The Summer That Was
by bel21
Summary: The Summer of Punk was spawned from an explosive promo on Monday Night Raw. Backstage, everything else exploded, and one Creative writer is held responsible, and soon gets way too caught up in the WWE world than she thought she would.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: I've had this idea for a while, so I thought while I'm figuring out the next chapters for Bright Lights, I should have a crack with this one. Hope you enjoy it!

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><p><span>June 27, 2011<span>

"I hate this idea that you're the best. Because you're not. I'm the best. I'm the best in the world."

_Thud, thud._

"There's one thing you're better at than I am, and that's kissing Vince McMahon's ass"

_Thud, thud._

"You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar. And he split just like I'm splitting. But the biggest difference between me and Brock is I'm going to leave with the WWE Championship."

_Thud, thud. "Hey watch where you're going!"_

"I'm leaving with the WWE Championship on July 17th. And hell, who knows, maybe I'll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Maybe I'll go back to Ring of Honor."

_Thud, thud. 'Punk, please, stop.'_

"...and I'd like to think that maybe this company will better after Vince McMahon is dead. But the fact is, it's going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family."

_Thud, thud. 'Shit, shit, shit!'_

An arm reached out and wrapped itself around the young woman, halting her run through the backstage area of Monday Night Raw. Flattening her palms against the large chest in front of her, Zoe Winters pushed away from the Miz, continuing her path to the monitor bay. She could vaguely hear the former WWE Champion call out to her. All she could hear was her heartbeat. It's all she had heard for the past five minutes. Her eyes watched in terror as Raw went off air, and she noticed the McMahon family standing by the monitors. The entire Raw roster was out watching the monitors. Their eyes all transfixed by what had just occurred. The crowd were deafening outside the curtains, all abuzz with what they had just witnessed. Her fist tightened around the note in her hand. Her eyes met Stephanie McMahon's, as the Creative head made her way over to her, an unrecognisable expression on her face. Before she could even get a word out, Zoe shook her head, knowing exactly what she was going to be asked. The youngest McMahon child bit her lip, running a nervous hand through her hair. Behind her, an enraged Vince McMahon was staring at the gorilla area in anger, waiting for him to emerge. Zoe closed her eyes. This was the worst thing that could've happened. She had no idea what was going to happen to her.

A slow and lone applause broke her thoughts, and her eyes flicked open. Clenching her jaw, her dark eyes met the amused hazel ones opposite her. The entire monitor bay was silent bar that lone wrestler applauding the young woman in front of him.

"And there you have it ladies and gentleman, the woman behind the words-"

The sound of a fist meeting a cheek rang out through the monitor area.

The Miz lunged forward, grabbing Zoe as she tried to swing at CM Punk again.

"You are pathetic," hissed Zoe, struggling out of the grip Mike had her in.

The Straight-Edge Superstar smirked at her, rubbing his sore cheek. "No, I'm the best in the world."

"Brooks!" cried Mr. McMahon, "What the hell was that?"

"Product of your genius creative team," quipped Punk, throwing a wink at Zoe, "I think there's some pent up emotion in that group."

"You piece of shit!" The Miz's grip slipped as Zoe lunged at Punk again, her face contorted in anger, "You lying sack of shit!" Pushing Mike away from her, she held up the crumpled paper in her hand, "We wrote you a script. You.. YOU! You changed it!" She unraveled the paper in her hands, reading aloud the scrawl written across the script, "Sorry, it's clobbering time." Her angry eyes met Punk's again and she shook her head, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"I'm trying to make things interesting again."

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, a disbelieving smirk curling her lips, "You are a selfish man, Brooks."

The dark haired wrestler tilted his head, his smirk still dancing on his lips, "Sometimes you have to be a little selfish to get what you want."

Stephanie McMahon stepped forward, her face twisted into a scowl, "You have no right, Punk." She gestured towards the assembled backstage crew gathered behind Zoe, "They had everything worked out for your character. For the next few weeks, they had it all planned and you just think you can change it all? What gave you any right to go out there and say all that, Brooks?-"

"Oh give me a break," exclaimed Punk, throwing his hands in the air, "Your genius creative team over there had the most boring plan out for me-"

"You were going to get your match at Money in the Bank!" cried Stephanie.

"But I wasn't going to be Champion, was I?" roared CM Punk, his face red with anger. "They'd decided to recreate the Montreal Screw Job. Oh how fucking original, Stephanie." He waved his hand towards the group of Creative writers, "Your crack team over here clearly do not know what the fans want-"

"You don't care about what the fans want. You only care about what you want."

Punk's neck almost cracked as he spun to face Zoe. The young dark haired woman smirked at him, arms folded over her chest. He all but growled at her, "Excuse me?"

Zoe tilted her head, an almost identical smirk to Punk's, "You're just so bitter about not being booked as Champion-"

CM Punk scoffed, "Did you not hear what I just said out there?"

"Oh poor baby, you're not on any collector cups, programs or other bullshit," She tossed her hair to the side, "The CM Punk that I've watched for years wouldn't have cared about that. You're only caring about the glory now. You used to only care about going out there and wrestling for the fans. You're not CM Punk. You're a pathetic excuse for him but."

Punk opened his mouth to reply, but John Cena beat him to it, "Punk, seriously, just shut the fuck up."

Zoe spun around to face the McMahon family, "We will fix this, don't worry."

Vince McMahon nodded, his face still red, "I would hope so, Miss Winters. You were in charge of the CM Punk storyline." He paused, letting out a sigh, "I'd hate to think what would happen if you were unable to fix this."

Zoe's brow furrowed. How on earth was she being held responsible for this? It wasn't her fault that she was in charge of the WWE's biggest loose cannon. She clenched her jaw, "I hardly think this is my fault, sir-"

"It will be if you can not fix it."

Her heart rate sped up. She could feel the effects of an anxiety attack. She couldn't lose this job. The young girl had worked so hard to get where she was, and her first storyline she was head writer of, was currently self imploding. Taking a deep breath, she nodded, "I apologise, Mr. McMahon. I will do everything I can to fix it."

The WWE CEO nodded. He hated to do this, but he needed to be in damage control right now. An assistant pulled on his arm, "What?" He snapped.

"You have a series of phone calls from journalists asking if that was legit."

Vince McMahon scowled at Punk, "In my office in ten minutes. Go pack your things, while I figure out what to do with you." He turned his attention to Zoe, "I suggest you start rewriting, Miss Winters. You've got a long night ahead of you."

As the McMahon family followed Vince, Zoe tried to keep her breathing in check, her eyes almost brimming with tears, "You didn't think, did you? I hope you're happy." She spun around on her heel, leaving a group of shellshocked wrestlers and one angry Straight-Edger. Her vision started blacking out as she stumbled through the corridors to the Creative meeting room. Her breathing was getting shorter, and she was struggling to stay upright. Before she tumbled to the floor, an arm reached out again to grab her around the waist, pulling her against a hard chest. A familiar scent filled her nose and she bit back a sob, burying her head against the chest.

A soothing hand rubbed her back, "Breathe, Zoe. C'mon, honey, breathe."

"John." Zoe hiccuped, in between sobs, "I didn't do it." She hiccuped again. "I swear."

"I know, baby girl." His arms tightened around her, and she felt him brush a kiss on the crown of her head.

Zoe untangled herself from his arms, her hands reaching up to brush the tears from her eyes. Biting her lip, she glanced at the WWE Champion in front of her, "I need to get to the hotel. I've got to fix this."

John nodded, a sad look on his face as he watched the young woman in front of him struggle to stay composed. Reaching out an arm, he tugged her towards him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. "C'mon, I'll take you back." Zoe didn't have the energy to fight him. She let him lead her down the hallway to the meeting room so she could gather her things. The other team members were in there as she piled all her books into her bag. She couldn't look them in the eye. And neither could they.

As her hand reached the doorknob, a team member's voice called out, "Maybe you just weren't ready for this, Zoe."

She was starting to think that too.

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><p>The WWE prided itself on being a tightknit family, so naturally, backstage crew and wrestlers were booked in the same hotel. Right now, Zoe couldn't think of anything worse. She kept her head ducked down, avoiding the looks from all the wrestlers. John guided her through the lobby and into the elevator. As the doors closed, she sighed sadly, watching the numbers tick upwards.<p>

"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

Zoe bit her lip, glancing at John as they left the elevator, "I'm going to be up all night, writing. I've got months of scripts to go through."

John shrugged, a small smile on his face, "I'll be your coffee boy." He grinned to himself when he saw a ghost of a smile flicker on the young woman's face, "Please?"

Her dark hair bounced as she nodded. They reached her hotel room, and she rummaged through her bag to find the room key. John excused himself to go grab the rest of his stuff from his room down the hall. While she searched through her bag, she heard the elevator doors in the background. The footsteps grew closer, as she smiled victoriously at finding her key. From the corner of her eye, she saw him, and paused, almost dropping her key.

"I've been suspended."

Zoe nodded.

"Do you want to meet up to work out the next few weeks?"

Zoe shook her head.

Punk scowled, "Are you mute?"

"Punk. Fuck off."

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><p>AN: Review, Review, REVIEW! Please :)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I'm sorry if it was a bit confusing at first. This first part of the chapter is set a few months before the promo, so I've included dates at the top to help out. Enjoy!

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><p><span>May 18, 2011<span>

Zoe Winters could not contain her excitement. That was a complete contrast to the nerves in her stomach that were building. Being offered a job with the WWE Creative department was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Zoe knew she had to take it no matter what. They had pretty much indicated to her on the phone that she had the job in the bag, but this was the final interview and she would be told exactly what her new job would entail. Tapping her fingers against the chair, she gazed at the pictures adorning the walls of the WWE office that was based in Connecticut. The pictures were taken through out the years, highlighting championship wins or epic moments in the history of the WWE. She bit her lip smiling, knowing one day she could possibly be a part of that moment. For a few years now, she had been a journalist in a local community paper in New York. One day, she had spied the ad for a creative writer online, and knew immediately that was her calling. She had been an avid fan of wrestling for years, and was beyond excited when they accepted her resume and was granted an interview.

A noise to her left caught her attention and she looked over at the reception desk to see a dark haired man speaking to the receptionist. The receptionist pointed to the chairs, and the man rolled his eyes, dragging himself over to the chairs near Zoe. Zoe's eyes widened when she realised who was sitting opposite her. She hadn't meant to stare, but finally the man caught her looking and a wry smile formed on his face.

"Can I help you?"

Zoe bit her lip, a deep red staining her cheeks, "Sorry! I didn't mean to-"

The man raised his hand, chuckling, "It's fine. I have that effect on people."

She rolled her eyes, a small laugh escaping her lips, "I'm sure."

As she tapped her fingers nervously on the armrest of the chair, he leant back in the chair, watching her curiously. He then leant forward, extending his arm to her, "Punk."

Zoe was startled from her thoughts, before leaning forward to shake his hand, "Zoe." She let out a nervous laugh, "You really don't need to introduce yourself. I know who you are."

"I thought it was the polite thing to do." He noticed her folder on the chair next to her, "Diva?"

A scoff left the lips of the dark haired woman, "Hardly. I'm here to get a job as part of Creative." She remembered his unhappy expression when he had arrived, "What are you here for?"

"The creative position." At her arched eyebrow, he smirked, "Contract negotiations."

Zoe's mouth dropped, "You don't look so happy."

Punk ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, "It's complicated." The young woman watched his face change back to the unhappy expression he arrived with, and bit her lip. Clearly, one of her favourite superstars was not happy with his position in the WWE. She didn't want to pry, but she always wondered if it was the happy working environment that they tried to portray. By the look on Punk's face, something wasn't right. She was startled from her thoughts, when he continued to speak, "You better have some good ideas."

Zoe's laugh echoed through the waiting area, "I highly doubt they are going to listen to the newbie. I'm just a fan really. I don't even care what they plan on giving me, or if they'll even let me write huge storylines. Just being a part of it is all I want."

Punk watched her face light up as she talked about being part of the WWE, and he couldn't help but smile. Once upon a time, he had that same starry look in his eyes when he started with the company. Right now, it was a different story, and he had no idea what he wanted anymore. The door next to them opened, and an older woman entered the waiting area with a smile, "Zoe, we are ready for you now."

The woman left the room, and Zoe stood up, grabbing her belongings. She offered a smile to Punk, "It was nice to meet you. I hope you're still here when I start working." Punk smiled at her and nodded, while Zoe turned around to open the door the other woman had gone through. Her hand stilled over the doorknob when she heard his voice.

"I just want to wrestle. No matter what they offer me, at the end of the day, I'm gonna wrestle in front of those people. Just like no matter what they offer you, you know you're gonna take the job so you can write and show everyone who you are. We're pretty much the same."

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><p><span>June 28, 2011<span>

"Stop looking like I'm dragging you against your will."

Zoe Winters glared pointedly at the man currently gripping her arm and pulling her towards the hotel restaurant. "You are dragging me against my will."

John Cena rolled his eyes, pulling her through the restaurant. He spotted a booth with a few Superstars already seated and waved at them. He knew that they would cheer Zoe up. Ever since she had started with the company, she had made friends with a few of the Superstars while working with them on their respective storylines. John knew that she was going to have a rough few days and he was making it his mission to keep her motivated. He pushed Zoe forward into the booth first, before sliding himself in. He grinned at the occupants of the booth, "Morning ladies." He paused, eyeing the other male with a look of mock disdain, "Mizzypoo."

The Miz stuck his finger up at his friend and coworker, before pouring the two newcomers some coffee, "You ok Zo'?"

Zoe struggled to keep her eyes open, and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, just an all nighter."

"I helped," beamed John, proudly.

The Miz snorted, "I'm sure you were oodles of help."

Maryse wrapped an arm around Zoe, ignoring the two males slapping each other, "You'll be fine, I'm sure they realise it's not your fault."

"Not really," mused Mike, taking a bite from his waffles, "Vince looked ready to kill last ni.. I'm going to stop talking." He turned his eyes downwards, avoiding the withering glares that Maryse and Eve were giving him.

Eve sipped her orange juice, "In all honesty, Zoe, what happened last night?"

Zoe shook her head, tiredly, "I have no idea. Everything was worked out. He was supposed to rant about John, that was it. And he just went nuts, and they didn't turn off the microphone until they realised it wasn't the script." She groaned, running a hand through her hair, "My god, live television sucks."

Eve smiled, reassuringly at her friend, "You'll be fine. Like we said, it's not your fault and hopefully Vince realises that."

Zoe smiled at Eve, lifting her glass to take a sip before she stalled. Shakily, she put the cup down, and went to move from her seat. "John, move please."

John furrowed his eyebrow, shuffling out of the booth to let Zoe pass, before he realised where she was going, "Zo'!"

She swatted his reaching arm away, heading towards the table in the centre of the restaurant. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

CM Punk raised an eyebrow at the glaring woman standing before his table, "Well, hello to you-"

"Do you think I'm bad at my job? Did I disappoint you with the ideas that I had for your character?" She arched an eyebrow, leaning forward to rest her palms on the table, "Because the normal thing to do would be to tell me, and we could sit down and work on something different. I'm a reasonable person." Her voice started to raise, attracting the attention of more wrestlers dining in the restaurant, "What you don't do, is use live television to get what you want, and in turn humiliate me in front of thousands of people and this company."

Punk smirked at her, "I love how you've turned this around to make it all about you."

"Isn't that what you did?" She snapped, smacking her hand on the table, "You are so selfish."

Punk rolled his eyes, "So you've told me, and to be quite honest, I don't really care." He pointed his finger at her, accusingly, and his voice got louder. "And for all your high and mighty speech about not telling you, I did tell you, remember? I told you everything that was wrong but you wanted to be safe. You didn't want to upset the suits at all. Instead of making me and the fans happy, you made them happy. So don't come around preaching to me about being the shoulder to cry on, because you're not. You're just as selfish as I am, because it was your first shot at being in charge and you wanted it to work to how you wanted, not everyone else."

Zoe's face tightened into a scowl, her eyes brimming with tears. She remembered the day that Punk and her had sat on her hotel balcony, a bottle of Pepsi between the two of them, and Punk had confessed everything he felt about the WWE. How he didn't feel like he was getting the opportunities he deserved. And how he really felt about the people in charge. "You were going to take it too far."

"You didn't want me to win."

Her eyebrows furrowed together, and it dawned on her what this really was about. "Is this your revenge? Because I didn't give you the title, that you had to go risk BOTH our jobs?" She shook her head, "I wanted to give you the title!"

"Yeah, well, the end of the Money in the Bank booking sheet clearly says 'John Cena remains champion'," snapped Punk. He leant back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest, "What's done now is done. You're going to change the storyline to make it better and I'm going to get what I want." A smirk formed on his face, "It's a win-win situation here."

Zoe shook her head, sadly. Her quiet voice could barely be heard by the Straight-Edge Superstar, "I hope your collector cups, your programs and your title make you happy, Punk. You used to be my hero, as sad as that sounds now. Now, you're nothing more than a glory hunter." She stood up, sighing, "At the end of the day Punk, you were going to wrestle in front of those people. I thought that's what meant the most to you."

As Zoe turned to walk back to the table where her friends were sitting, only John Cena noticed the smirk fade from Punk's face. He shook his head at his long time friend, while he opened his arms up to Zoe, who scooted into the booth next to him, clutching his shirt tightly. He rubbed her back while she calmed her breathing down. The other wrestlers on their table watched sadly as Zoe struggled to calm down. She shakily took the glass of water that Maryse handed to her, and took a gulp of water.

"I thought I was your hero?"

Maryse rolled her eyes, smacking Miz on the head, "Not now, Michael!"

Zoe smiled, brushing a lone tear that had fallen down her cheek, "You are, Mike." She took another sip of water, "I need to get back to doing the scripts." She turned to John, "Help?"

John Cena nodded, gripping her hand tightly, and pushing her out of the booth. They waved goodbye to the others before heading to the elevator. Eve watched them, before shaking her head, and taking a bite from her pancakes, "You guys agree with everything Punk said last night, don't you?"

The other two superstars didn't need to answer her. The looks on their faces said it all.

CM Punk wasn't the only one that felt that way.

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><p>AN: Review please :) More details shall emerge in the next chapter of how Zoe got so caught up in these Superstar's lives! And also, she finally has a meeting with the WWE suits!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews again! I apologise for the delay! I was away and had no computer access at all. Devestating times, I know. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Just a small one backgrounding Zoe a bit, and more into her feud with everyone's favourite Straight-Edge Superstar. Enjoy!

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><p><span>May 23, 2011<span>

Zoe's dark brown eyes widened at the sight around her. She was at her first Live Raw Show. The interview had gone well and she was given the position as a Creative writer. Her main show would be with Raw, but if she was needed, she could travel with Smackdown. At that moment, she was soaking it all in. Technicians and production assistants were running around her, getting everything organised for the show. Superstars and Divas were arriving and making their way to their respective locker rooms. Zoe smiled to herself, as no one noticed her while she gazed at them starstruck. She was enjoying the moment too much. Her eyes bright with excitement as she watched the backstage area come to life. Inside, she couldn't have been happier.

"Starting to realise you're not in Kansas anymore?"

Zoe spun her head to face the owner of the voice, and beamed at him, "That line would only work if I was from Kansas, and you know I'm a West Newbury girl, or have you forgotten about me already, Cena?"

John Cena opened his arms wide, chuckling as Zoe flung herself into them, her arms wrapping around his neck. He spun her around, before setting her feet back to the ground, "I can't forget you, Zo'.. you're my favourite -"

"About that," started Zoe, biting her lip nervously. She glanced around at the busy crowd of people. No one had noticed the greeting between the two, and she'd rather it that way. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd rather not get that reputation.."

John nodded, a smile still on his face. The last thing he wanted was for her to be told she was there because of him, and not for her own talent. "I understand completely. Shall we go with..Liz's friend?" At her grin and nod, he chuckled, "You are way too excited, aren't you?"

"It's a dream come true."

A new voice broke the reunion between the two, "John, have you seen Maryse?.. Oh hi! Sorry for intruding!"

Zoe's eyes almost bugged out of her head at the sight of Eve Torres approaching the duo. The Diva was still dressed in street clothes, and in her hands were a pair of Louboutins. John eyed the shoes wearily, taking a step back from the Diva, "You didn't steal those from her, did you? You know how she gets about her shoes.."

Eve rolled her eyes, waving her hand dismissively, "I asked this time, don't worry!" She glanced at Zoe, and smiled warmly at her, "Hey, how you going? I'm Eve." She stuck out her free hand.

Zoe took a moment before extending her arm and shaking Eve's hand, "Hi, I'm Zoe."

"Usually we hear about new Divas.."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Zoe, waving her arms in front of her, a mortified look on her face, "No. My coordination skills get me injured enough as it is, I'd rather not put other people in danger either. I'm part of Creative.."

Eve's face broke into a smile. She bounced on the spot, clapping her hands, "Young fresh female!" John looked heavenward, groaning, and Eve rolled her eyes, slapping the wrestler on the arm, "Oh come on, you and I both know we need someone new around here."

John raised an eyebrow, an amused smile crossing his face, "She's only new Eve, don't start with the ideas about Divas taking over the world."

Eve stuck her tongue into her cheek, and gestured rudely at the new WWE champion. She glanced between the two of them, "Wait, how do you guys know each other?"

"Friend of Liz's," answered John, quickly, "Old college friend. So are we still on for tonight?"

The former Diva's Champion nodded, "Of course! I rounded up the usuals." She paused and looked at Zoe, "You're staying at the hotel right? You should join us, we have a movie night after each Live event."

Zoe blushed, biting her lip nervously, "Yeah sure, that sounds great." She watched as Eve left the two of them to find Maryse. "Are you sure you want me there?"

John furrowed his brow, "Why wouldn't I?" He watched her as she continued to bite her lip, "Zoe, you'll have fun, trust me. I want you to meet everyone. This is your family now four or five days a week." He wrapped an arm around her, a cheesy grin forming on his face, his dimples showing proudly, "You're gonna see a lot more of your favourite Cena, baby girl."

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><p>Her first Raw involved her shadowing a few members of the Creative team as they worked behind the scenes. She watched as Superstars and Divas were consulted on new storylines, and sat with a few members who were doing rewrites for some storylines. Originally, she had been too nervous to speak up, but eventually offered a few lines that they ended up using. The night was long, and Zoe was exhausted and she wanted nothing more than to relax. John had told her, that the original after party of Monday Night Raw was to go out to the local club. However, as he noted amused, the Superstars and Divas were aging and clubbing was suddenly a more exhausting idea to them, and was only reserved for special occasions or Pay-Per-Views. Pulling on her jeans and a tshirt, she made her way down the corridor of the hotel to John's room where he was having the movie night. After riding the elevator up two floors, she exited it and kept her eyes on the room numbers so she could locate Johns. Unfortunately, someone was exiting their room as she walked past and the two bumped into one another. The impact knocked the small woman to the floor, landing with an audible oof.<p>

"Sorry!" exclaimed Zoe, as she picked herself up off the ground.

The man chuckled, extending an arm to pull her up, "I knock you to the ground, and you're the one apologising." He paused, tilting his head as he recognised her face, "Zoe, wasn't it?"

The dark haired girl smiled, dusting her jeans with her hands, "Yeah it is. Nice to see you again, Punk."

"I see you got the job." His lips quirked into a smirk as he eyed her tshirt, "I don't know if it's reassuring or concerning that a current Creative writer is wearing an Avengers tshirt." He tilted his head again, his smirk widening, "Plans for more spandex outfits?"

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, "Not any more than you already wear."

Punk chuckled, "Touche. Excited for the new movie?"

Zoe snorted, her face twisted in disgust, "No. First off, Hulk lasted two issues as an Avenger, and Scarlett Johanssen as Black Widow? Please, she's only there for the males."

Punk's eyebrows shot up and he couldn't contain the smirk that was growing on his face, "Who else were they supposed to have instead of Hulk? Ant-man?"

"They could've had Quicksilver."

"Having Quicksilver means you have to have Scarlet Witch, and they're not as convincing superheroes.."

She snorted, "Their father is Magneto! How much more convincing can you get?"

A wry smile formed on CM Punk's face. He was more than impressed with the young woman in front of him. He glanced down the corridor and sighed, "As much as I'd love to continue schooling you -" Zoe snorted, and he chuckled, "I am running late."

"Yeah, me too actually," said Zoe, shoving her hands in her pockets. The two headed off down the corridor in the same direction, before stopping in front of the same hotel room.

He raised an eyebrow, "Well this is awkward."

"Still plan on schooling me?"

"I'd rather not embarrass you in front of your peers."

Zoe rolled her eyes, a groan leaving her lips, "Oh thank god. It's bad enough you run your mouth on television, but to hear it as well off screen.."

Punk smirked, his hazel eyes crinkling around the edges, "People enjoyed listening to my rants-"

"Not for long."

"Ballsy for a fresher." He clucked his tongue, disapprovingly, "There is no chance you'll shut me up."

"Has anyone thought to muzzle you?"

"I'm going to change the landscape of wrestling. You'll all see." Zoe glanced over her shoulder at him amused, as she stepped forward to knock on the door, "Do you have an Xmen tshirt?"

Zoe blinked, turning to face him, a quizzical look on her face, "What?"

A proud smile crept onto Punk's face, "Oh, so you are listening to me." He rocked forward on his heels, his hands shoved into his shorts pockets, "So do you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Will I be seeing that next movie night?"

"I wear it to bed."

"So after next movie night, then."

John Cena chose that moment to open the door to find a blushing Zoe Winters, and a smirking CM Punk. He raised an eyebrow, "So.. I see you've met Punk.."

* * *

><p><span>July 4, 2011<span>

"I think I'm coming down with something."

John Cena raised an eyebrow at the girl sitting beside him in the locker room, "You look fine."

"I feel nauseated and feverish."

He rolled his eyes, pulling on a tshirt over his head, "Zoe, stop it. You have to do this, you know that."

Zoe groaned, leaning her head against the cool locker room wall, "I don't want to see him."

"He's your friend."

"No, he's your friend."

The WWE Champion sighed, reaching an arm around her to pull her closer, "Just pretend he's any other wrestler. It will be over and done with quickly." He placed a kiss on her head, pushing her away, "Now go, and be nice." As he watched her make her way out of the locker room, he sighed, resting his head in his hands. It was the week after the eventful Raw, where Punk had gone off on a tangent and caused controversy over his promo shoot. While CM Punk had been suspended by Vince McMahon, he was ordered to come to Raw and work with Zoe on the new storyline. John didn't see how it was fair that Zoe was copping slack for it, but he knew Vince could replace Zoe in a heart beat. Punk, not so much. The entire week he had spent with Zoe. He had helped her with the storyline or had just been there for her when she broke down over the whole debacle. Punk was her friend. He was all of their's friend. And none of them understood what had possessed him that fateful night. John chewed his lip. He wasn't going to lie and say he didn't agree with Punk. Most of the roster was talking about what Punk had said, and a lot of them were agreeing. He only prayed that Punk would have calmed down by now and could work with Zoe on this to ensure that both of them kept their jobs. Sighing again, he pushed himself off the bench and made his way out the door. He needed to get his mind off the whole thing. Zoe was a big girl. She could handle herself. Hopefully.

"You're late."

CM Punk glanced at the man seated before him, and smirked, "Who the hell are you?"

"Jake Ritter."

"I'm pretty sure this meeting was between me and Zo' over here."

The older man crossed his arms over his chest, a disapproving look on his face, "I'm her advisor."

Punk's mouth dropped open, a look of glee forming, "Oh scared she'll conspire with me again to ruin the WWE." He snapped his fingers, mock disappointment in his eyes, "Damn. And to think we could've got away with a raid of Ring of Honor stars in the ring while I wrestle John Cena for the title."

"Just sit down, Punk."

The tired voice caused Punk to snap his head around and look at the woman seated next to Jake. Zoe looked exhausted. He froze for a second, realising he was probably the cause of it. Shaking his head quickly, he begrudgingly took a seat opposite to them. He gestured at Jake. "I don't want him here."

Zoe shuffled through her papers. She knew this meeting was going to go haywire with Jake there. Sighing, she turned to Jake, a pleading look in her eyes, "Please, Jake, would it be alright if I do this by myself?" At his raised eyebrow, she placed a gentle hand on his arm, "Please, it will be easier, trust me." She offered him a small smile and a quiet thank you as Jake stood up, and left the room.

CM Punk grinned, leaning back in his seat, "Well that was easy-"

"Here's the outline for the next show, and the plan for the PPV." Zoe pushed the paper towards him, interrupting his words. She clutched her own copy with shaky hands. "You'll have a contract signing next week with Vince. You'll apologise, and just rant about Cena. Only Cena. Then at the PPV.."

"Do I win?"

"Yes."

Punk smirked, "That's my girl."

"Then Alberto Del Rio cashes in."

The smirk on Punk's face disappeared in an instant and he growled, an angry scowl forming on his face instead, "What?"

Zoe bit her lip, "Alberto Del Rio cashes-"

"You are a bitch."

Zoe's heart stopped in that instant, and she clutched her paper tighter. Before her, was her supposed friend. And right now, the look he was giving her, he only saved for people he hated. She dropped the paper, a shaky hand reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, "He wins, and you leave."

His hand slammed down on the table, "You had a week and that's what you came up with?"

"I'm just trying to keep my job."

Punk ran an angry hand through his hair, "This is unbelievable. What happens next? Do I just disappear?"

"You get another title shot at Summerslam."

"And who wins?"

Zoe averted her eyes, her teeth still chewing at her lip. John was going to win the title. The creative team had decided that was what was best for the company. It had been an unanimous decision. She had tried and tried to get them to have some change, but they wanted the poster boy of the WWE. "John.."

Punk slammed his hand down again, "What is wrong with you people? Did anything I said that night sink in?" He growled, angrily, "The whole world is talking about that night. I changed it all, and you're just going to bury me. I don't deserve any of this." The Superstar stood up from the table, "I'm going to tell Vince I'm unhappy with this. You and your crack team are going to change it. And I will be champion. I will be maineventing this summer. It's my goddamn time." He turned towards the door, leaving a shaken Zoe seated at the table. Her eyes brimming with tears as she watched her former friend leave the room. But Punk stopped when a quiet voice spoke up.

"I hate you." She paused, struggling through her tears, "I hate what you've become."

"You've changed too." He turned to face her, "Don't think you're the innocent one."

"No." She growled, her voice raising, "I haven't hurt anyone."

His eyebrow lifted slightly, "Haven't you?"

"I don't have time for your mind games, Brooks." Zoe pushed herself up from the table and made her way to the door. She could hear him following her into the corridor of the arena. Her arms tightened around her folder of notes, as she made her way to the Creative team room. She tried to ignore him, and the looks of the several Superstars nearby.

His voice rang out in the hallway, and Zoe stopped, her heart beating fast, "I know that girl with the Avengers tshirt is somewhere under that suit. Sometimes I see her. Most of the time I see the suit she's changed into. We all change, Zoe. I'm not the only one who got what they wanted."

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><p>AN: Review please :) The next chapter is already complete and I'll be posting it in the next day or so depending on the response to this chapter :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: A nice quick update for you all because you all gave me such great reviews! Most notable mention to Miserlou, with "He is a bonafide C.U.N.T" Loved it. The response was amazing! I'm so glad you're all enjoying it! Here's the latest chapter :) Enjoy my pretties.

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><p><span>June 6, 2011<span>

"We're back!"

"Is my credit card still in tact?"

"Michael, there was a sale-"

The Miz held up a hand, a grimace on his face, "Good god, woman, I don't want to know."

Maryse beamed at her boyfriend of three years, "I'll send you the bill."

Zoe rolled her eyes at her new friend, before eyeing the bags in Maryse's hands. Over the past two weeks, Zoe had hung out with John and his friends. They'd welcomed her with open arms and she loved every second with them. Maryse and Eve were her closest girlfriends, and the trio had organised the morning of Raw to be a shopping trip, while the boys stayed in the hotel room, working out and playing video games. Maryse had gathered the most shopping bags, with Eve following close behind. Unfortunately, Zoe wasn't on a wrestler salary, and had only purchased a few things. She was also exhausted as hell. The two Divas could shop till the end of the world. Zoe, on the other hand, was about to collapse. She caught the eye of CM Punk, and rolled her eyes again as he eyed her two bags.

"Went a bit all out didn't you?"

"Quality not quantity, Punk."

His eyebrows wiggled suggestively, "Buy anything for me? OW!"

John leant over and slapped him upside the head, "Pants. Keep them on."

Punk smirked, his lip ring shining in the light, "I can't guarantee a lot of things, Cena. But I can guarantee, that I'm going to kick your ass."

The three women rolled their eyes as Miz, Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder), Punk and John battled each other on Matt's Xbox. Eve cleared her throat, "Oh, I'm so glad we came home for this." Smirking at the girls, she gripped her bags tightly, "I'm just going to go back to my room and sort through my Victoria's Secret purchases-"

"Toodles, ladies, I'm with her." The man known to the wrestling world as Zack Ryder threw his remote to the ground, and hurried after Eve as she made her way out of the room.

"You're weak!" cried Punk. "This isn't fair, I'm a man down!" His eyes widened as a small pair of hands picked up the remote beside him. Zoe slid into the spot next to him on the couch, a smirk forming on her face. "Do you even know how to play?"

She raised a slim eyebrow, while her fingers fiddled with the controls. They turned when an audible cry came from the Miz, who stared at the screen in shock, "She just shot me in the head!"

"That's my girl," whispered Punk. He winked when Zoe spun her head around to face him. She had heard loud and clear what he had said. Punk smirked at her, shuffling closer to her, and she could feel her cheeks go red. The duo were oblivious to the looks that John and Maryse were giving them. Maryse was positively beaming that finally her grumpy Punk looked happy, but John looked a bit worried. John tried to keep his focus on the game. Zoe was a big girl. But she was his girl, and he just hoped to god that she wasn't going to get hurt.

* * *

><p>The game lasted for another half an hour, before they all needed to get ready to go to Raw. They all rode together to Raw, parking the car behind the arena with other arriving Superstars. Zoe felt an arm rest around her shoulders, and she raised an eyebrow at the smirking Straight-Edge Superstar next to her, "Can I help you?"<p>

"I have a favour-"

"No."

He mock glared at her, "It involves Stone Cold."

"It's not a threesome, is it?"

Punk choked for a second, spluttering for words, "No, goddamit. Jesus, you are special." He rubbed his free hand over his face, "In all seriousness, I want you to write something for me."

Zoe looked at him, quizzically, "You should get one of the writers-"

"You are a writer."

Zoe sighed, "Yeah, but I'm not trusted with storylines yet."

Punk tightened his grip around her shoulders, "No one trusts you, or you don't trust yourself." He sighed, watching her face change to confused, "Look, I've seen some of your work with the other Superstars when you help out the other writers. I want you to write the promo between me and Stone Cold. It's next week."

Inside, Zoe was dying with excitement. Writing a promo for the two rebels of the WWE was amazing. It would be the greatest opportunity, but she knew as soon as the other writers heard about it, it would be offered to someone else with more experience. "Punk, I'd love to, but you have to run it past Stephanie."

"I did." Punk flashed her a wink and a grin, "She's giving you a chance, Princess." He guided her down the corridor of the arena, "I know you're a great writer. And I know, you are a wrestling fan. You can do this."

* * *

><p><span>July 5, 2011<span>

"We are having a hard time trying to believe you, Miss Winters."

Zoe raised her eyebrows in confusion. The board of WWE Corporate members all looked at her expectantly. Like she was to explain to them exactly what was going on. But she honestly, had no idea what they were talking about. Why was it so hard to believe her? She wrote the script. They saw the script, and Punk didn't follow it. What was wrong? The day after Raw, she was told to attend a meeting with the WWE executives to review the current storyline she had written and to confirm that it was suitable to go to air. The meeting was anything but that. Within moments, she was being interrogated about the previous debacle on June 27th.

Stephanie McMahon slipped a piece of paper across the table to her, a disappointed look on her face, "We have come into possession of this document." She paused, leaning back into her chair, "After having seen this, we wonder if you really conspired with Mr. Brooks to hijack the promo."

The young Creative writer's heart dropped as she looked at the paper in front of her. It was a copy of her brainstorming with Punk. The night after he told her all his thoughts on the WWE, she had written them down so they could use some of it for his storyline. However, she realised they were stepping over the line with some of his statements, and she decided to scrap most of it. The problem was, everything that was marked with a red line next to it, was everything that Punk said on live television a few nights before hand. She stuttered, hands grazing over the document, "How.. how did you find this?"

"One of your colleagues turned it in."

Zoe's face darkened, "It was stolen from my folders."

Vince McMahon shook his head, "Stolen or not, this is evidence that you knew what he was going to say. If you agree with him Miss Winters, I don't understand why you bothered to take the job here."

"I don't agree with him!" cried Zoe, her hands gripped the paper tightly, "This is everything he told me, Mr McMahon. I marked off everything he couldn't say. I promise you that I drew the line. I was not part of this!"

Vince McMahon pinched the bridge of his nose. This girl had so much potential and he wasn't sure what to do about the situation. The entire promo had blown up all over the internet and televisions. The WWE was now a talking point, but he wasn't so sure if it was in the best of lights. Sighing, he looked sternly at the young woman seated opposite him, "Miss Winters, we have two different scripts. And two different takes on the situation. The entire world is talking about the WWE. My company is plastered over the news on the internet and on television, and not for good reason!" He clenched his jaw, "I have to take action in order to bring my company back from this. We can not be seen as treating our employees with contempt. We can not be seen unable to control our employees, and having them ranting on television wishing I WAS DEAD!" His face had turned red, and his voice had increased in volume. "Miss Winters, wrestlers are hard to come by. Writers? I could pluck a replacement off the street in a second. You will finish the storyline up to Money in the Bank. If I find it acceptable, you will continue writing, however you will not be in charge of a storyline for a long time, Miss Winters." He stood up, a glare darkening his features, "Think about that before you try to shake up the wrestling world again. You have much to learn, and I can't believe we trusted you to carry this storyline. You've taken the company backwards, not forwards like you pitched to us in your interview."

Zoe's mouth was frozen agape. She stared at her employer, confused and distraught. They couldn't do this to her. It wasn't her fault. She stood up shaking, and blinked back the tears and oncoming anxiety attack. "I promise you Mr. McMahon.."

"I didn't say this meeting was over."

"I did," started Zoe, taking a breath, "I never meant to disappoint this company, or any of you. But if you will not take the time to hear me out, then fine. I will comply with your wishes and continue with the storyline, and deal with the consequences." Before any of them could open their mouths, she darted from the room, her vision blurring and slowly blacking out. The anxiety attacks were getting worse, and she stumbled down the corridor towards the elevators. The doors chimed open and Zoe tripped over her peeptoe heels into the elevator. A strong pair of arms reached out and grabbed her, pulling her towards a hard chest.

"Zoe baby, breathe please."

The sentiment startled her, and she realised she recognised the scent of the arms around her. Through her blurring vision, she pushed away from the man, and slammed her hand against the elevator buttons, trying to get out of the elevator again.

"Jesus Christ, Zoe, what the fuck are you doing?" The familiar growl made a small smile flicker on Zoe's face as she dropped to the ground. Her head rolled back against the side of the elevator, her eyes close to blacking out. The other occupant of the elevator realised what happened and kneeled down next to her, bringing his hand gently to the side of her head to tilt it up right. "Baby, c'mon, deep breaths." He swatted her hand as she tried to reach for the buttons again, "Zo, seriously, what the fuck."

Her breathing returned to normal, and her eyes adjusted to the light. Her hands were clutching at her companion's shirt, whilst his hands rested around her head. "You have to help me."

His eyebrows furrowed, "I am-"

"No," mumbled Zoe, concentrating on her breathing, "Don't help me like you actually care about me." She paused, removing her hands from his shirt. "Just take me to Johnny please." Her eyes blinked back the tears as he clutched her hands, pulling her up to stand beside him. His arm tightened around her waist, and she tried to pull away, but he shook his head.

"You're going to pass out again, just breathe baby."

"Stop calling me that." Her exclamation was short and quiet, and he could hardly hear it as she rolled her head to rest on his shoulder, "Stop it."

* * *

><p>Her anxiety attack left her weak and vulnerable. She should never have gotten into his car. He'd caused her this pain, and right now he was helping her. She was more confused than ever. But, she wasn't really sure who she was more mad at. Him, or the WWE directors. Zoe wanted this job more than anything. This life was being so good to her. She was with new friends. With family. And it was all about to be taken away from her. John's hotel room was the floor above hers, and the ride up the elevator was just as quiet as the ride in the car. Her fists pounded against his door, but he never answered. Sighing heavily, she leant her back against the opposite wall to his room, and slid down it. Her knees curled into her chest, while her head rested against the cool hotel corridor wall.<p>

"I'm going to lose my job."

He took a seat beside her, too close for her liking, "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

His heavy sigh echoed through the corridor, "I just wanted-"

Her words cut him off, "We all know what you goddamn wanted. Don't make me have to listen to your selfish bullshit." Zoe tried to shuffle away from him, but his arm darted out to pull her back, "Stop it! I don't want this Punk! I hate you! I hate you!" Her arms flung out and she tried to push him away. Her body was still weak from the anxiety attack, and her heart wasn't even behind it, "I'm going to lose my job because of you! PUNK, FUCK OFF! You're not the same! You're not MY Punk! Leave me alone!"

CM Punk stilled for a moment, after hearing those words. Shaking his head to lose those thoughts, he kneeled in front of her, clutching her arms tightly in his hands, "You're not going to lose your job!" He felt her wiggle out of his grasp, but he tightened his grip, "Listen!" His growl startled her, "I get that you hate me, and my god, do I hate you too because I thought you would listen to me. I thought you would be that person who got me, but you didn't. You pushed me aside for your little agenda to the top. And guess what, that's what I did too, last week on Raw." His hand reached over into his backpack and he pulled out a pile of papers. He shoved them into her chest, "Read these. The first day I met you, you told me you were a fan. If you really were a fan, then you'd know about all this." He let go of her wrists, and he watched as she grabbed the papers, her eyes scanning over them. As her eyes widened, he continued, "People actually loved what happened. People are talking about wrestling again, more than they were before. I did this. Forget about your job for a second, and look at this as a fan. What do the fans want? You think they want to see John win again?"

"Don't start-"

His lip ring glinted in the hallway light, "You told me I didn't know what the fans wanted. Read all of them. I do know what people want in 2011. They want this. I promise you, if you make me Champion, I'll behave.. somewhat. You'll get people raving about your work. We will both get what we want Zoe." He paused, and Zoe noticed a flicker of disappointment pass on his face, "I promise I'll leave you alone after that. You will never have to work my creative angle again. You can go back to your precious John, or Miz." He smirked, slightly, "Plus, you can prove to them what I've always known. You're the best writer, Zoe. Hate me all you want, but you know you want to do this." He gestured towards the papers in her hand, "You want them to be talking about you too."

Zoe's dark eyes met his, and the two stared for a moment. The elevator doors chimed open, and they turned to see John Cena walking towards them. John approached the duo, his eyebrows furrowed, "What the hell is going on?"

CM Punk stood, clapping his friend on the back, "Nothing at all." He looked back at Zoe, "Nothing at all."

John watched him disappear down the corridor and into the elevator, before he turned his attention back to Zoe, who was still curled up on the ground, "Zoe, what's going on?"

Her eyes darted up to meet his, and she scrambled to get up, clutching the papers tightly to her chest, "I know what I have to do."

John raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, what? Once more with feeling, and a little less of that crazy look in your eyes."

"The Summer of Punk."

"Huh?"

A small smile formed on her lips, "C'mon Coffee Boy, we've got work to do." She plucked the key out of his hand, darting towards his hotel room, leaving John standing in the corridor confused.

He scratched his head, following her into the room, "Wait, so does that mean I'm still not winning?"

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><p>AN: Review, review, REVIEW! Please :)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Here's the next chapter :) Thank you again for the reviews! The response is overwhelming, honestly. This chapter is quite a long one, hope you enjoy!

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><p><span>June 13, 2011<span>

"What's up, Punk. This is Big Andy right here. He won Tough Enough."

Punk scoffed, "You won Tough Enough? You and how many of your friends?"

Stone Cold rested a hand on Andy's chest, pushing him gently away, "Andy, step out. Let me. I got this. Let me take care of business here with Punk." As Andy left the room, Austin turned to face Punk, offering his beer. "You want a beer?"

Punk paused, looking incredulously at the guest Raw GM, "What?"

"You want a beer?"

"What?"

"You want a shot of whiskey?"

"What?"

"Vodka?"

"What?"

"Anything?"

"What?"

"You're wasting my time if you want to come into my office and talk this what trash. What do you want?"

Punk smiled, "It's annoying, isn't it?"

Steve growled, "It is annoying!"

"I came in here to give you a breathalyser, Steve." Punk gestured towards his beer, "You're running the show, drinking beers. Can you say the alphabet backwards?"

Steve glared, "Well, I can woop your ass backwards."

CM Punk smirked at the Rattlesnake, "I actually came in here to thank you. See you've done one good thing tonight. I'm shocked you pulled that off." He paused, "Not being sober and all. But you gave me a match with John Cena and I want to thank you because I know most of your greatest moments are behind you, but you just set in motion something that is going to change the landscape of the WWE forever." His lips curled, "And that's the bottom line.."

Steve interrupted him, "Is that a fact?"

"Because CM Punk-"

"And now, you're gonna jack my lines too, huh?" Steve paused, "Well let me make it clear to you. Nexus ain't allowed around ringside. You get me? No nexus!"

Punk nodded, "That's fine."

"Is that fine?"

"That's fine, I can get it done by myself."

"Can you? Well I got other things to do. I got an announcement that I'm going to announce to the world right now. So I'll see you later.. Punk."

The cameras stopped rolling, and a voice exclaimed through the room, "That was amazing!" Applause rang out as Stephanie McMahon-Levesque stepped forward, clapping her hands. "Miss Winters, that was brilliant."

Zoe blushed, clutching the papers in her hands tighter to her chest, "Thank you, Ms Levesque. Honestly, I had a lot of help." She eyed Punk standing to her side, with a proud look on his face, "Thank you for the opportunity."

Stephanie smiled, "My pleasure. Look, I have a few things to discuss with my husband and a few executives right now, but later, I'd like to have a word with you about some more creative control on your part. God knows we could use it."

As the McMahon daughter walked off, Zoe squealed as strong arms wrapped around her waist, almost barrelling her over. Her giggles were muffled into the chest of CM Punk, as he spun her around. She pushed against his chest, stepping away from the Superstar, an amused smile dancing on her lips, "Down boy!"

He chuckled, slinging an arm over her shoulder, "I agree with Steph, that was amazing."

"Very impressive, kid."

Zoe spun around, her eyes widening at the sight of Stone Cold Steve Austin. She hadn't had a chance to speak with him over the promo as it was last minute, but he hadn't voiced any complaints when he received the script so she thought she'd be okay. Her lips quirked into a small smile, "Thank you, Mr. Austin."

Steve smiled, "You got us down to a T with your writing. Someones been watching for a while.."

The young writer blushed, "Only a while."

Steve's deep raspy chuckle rang out in the room, "I look forward to seeing what you can do, sweetheart. And try and keep this one in line." He gestured his head towards CM Punk, who smirked broadly.

As Stone Cold left the room, CM Punk kept his arm slung over Zoe's shoulder, steering her out of the room, "Try and keep me in line..pfft." Zoe hid her smile in his shoulder, "Stop laughing at me. I'm a habitual line stepper."

Zoe snorted, "So I've heard." She paused, quietening her voice, "Thanks for helping with the promo-"

"You did that all yourself, Princess, I just brought you the coffee." He eyed her warily, "Seriously, that's an addiction that has to stop, you know that right."

A voice rang out in the hallway, and Zoe's smile widened as John Cena came running towards her, "Baby girl!" Her laughter rung out in the hallway as the WWE Champion swung her around, just as Punk had done before. Zoe clung tightly to his neck, before he placed her back on the ground and Maryse wrapped her arms around her, congratulating her. It was a dream come true. She had written her first piece for the WWE on her own. And she hoped that she would get more chances now.

* * *

><p>"So Mike's room tonight?"<p>

Zoe nodded, readjusting her bag over her shoulder as she walked to the car park with Punk, John Cena and Eve. Raw had ended half an hour ago, and the group were headed back to the hotel for their usual movie night. She snuggled closer to Punk, as he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders again. She could see John eye her with a stern look on his face and she poked her tongue out, "It's not his choice of movie but is it? God help us after last time."

Eve giggled, "Nah, I think Maryse picked something-"

"Miss Winters!" The group stopped, turning to face Stephanie Levesque. The McMahon daughter smiled at the group, as she walked up to them. She eyed the arm around Zoe's shoulder, before a smile graced her face, "Sorry, I've been looking all over for you. I was wondering if you'd like to join myself and a few others for some drinks. We have some things to discuss with you about your next lot of storylines."

Zoe bit her lip, nervously. She glanced at the group of wrestlers beside her. She didn't want to ditch their night, but she was definitely not going to let this chance go. She saw John nod at her, and she smiled at the Creative head, "Of course, I'd love to."

Stephanie grinned, "Excellent! You can join my husband and I for the drive back. Well done tonight guys by the way."

Zoe nodded, stepping forward to join the older woman, who had already headed back into the arena. She turned to face her friends, "Sorry guys.."

Eve waved at her, dismissively, "Are you serious? This is your chance!" She stepped forward to hug Zoe, "Good luck, sweetie."

John highfived her, "You'll be fine, baby girl. C'mon Punk, let's roll."

The duo headed off, leaving Punk and Zoe standing there. She smiled at him, and his lips quirked into a small smirk, "Like John said, you'll be fine." He winked at her, "Don't get sucked into being a suit but. You can't keep ditching us," He teased, his lip ring glinting in the carpark light.

Zoe rolled her eyes, "I promise, Punk. It's one meeting, c'mon."

* * *

><p><span>June 19, 2011<span>

Her promise to CM Punk had faltered. The meeting with Stephanie and the other executives had gone well. They were allowing her to be a head of a storyline. That storyline being CM Punk's contract negotiations with the company and his impending departure. Stephanie had explained that they had noticed her friendship with the group of Superstars and thought she would be able to work well with her friend. As the head Creative writer of this new angle, she attended many meetings with the other writers and the executives, keeping them up to date on the progress of the storyline. It left her no time for the movie nights and dinners with her friends. For the past week leading up to Capitol Punishment, the group were lucky to see Zoe a few times, as she raced around the arena, getting rewrites and confirmations on scripts. At the present moment, she was racing from one meeting room to Stephanie's office, a bundle of papers in her hand. Not focusing on where she was going, she almost slammed into one tattooed and sweaty chest.

"Woah, where's the fire at?"

Zoe sighed, brushing a strand of hair from her face, "No fire, just stress. Great match by the way."

Punk smirked, "You didn't even watch."

A pink hue stained the cheeks of the writer, "Sorry I've been busy-"

"So we noticed."

His short reply made Zoe frown, "Punk.."

He shook his head, "So much for not turning into a suit." He eyed the outfit she was wearing. Perfectly pressed suit pants and a white blouse. A stark contrast to the jeans and shirt she wore before when she was backstage at the shows, "Cute outfit."

Zoe clenched her jaw at his sarcastic remark, "It's part of my job." His smirk only got bigger, "What is your problem?" She shrieked.

He chuckled, darkly, "Oh nothing, so how's my storyline angle going? Must be amazing since we haven't seen you all week."

The young brunette bit her lip. She knew what he meant. She'd been avoiding them all week because she was so scared this storyline wasn't going to be good enough. The amount of rewrites she'd been doing was insane and she had to hand in the script for the next night's Raw tonight. "It's going good. You'll have your script by tomorrow."

"Well I would hope so, considering the show is tomorrow."

"You're such an asshole!" Her eyes brimmed with tears as she pushed past him, ignoring his shouts. She didn't even notice John Cena as she sped past him, her vision clouded by the tears. John looked over at Punk, his eyebrows raised.

Punk sighed, realising he was in for it now. "What?"

* * *

><p>Capitol Punishment had ended late that Sunday night, and Zoe had stayed back for another hour at the arena finalising the next Raw's script. Stephanie and the other writers were satisfied with what she had come up with for CM Punk, and her script was given the confirmation it needed. She was beyond exhausted as she returned to her hotel room. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and forget about her run in with Punk. Zoe didn't blame the guy for being upset with her. She hadn't seen them in a week and she promised them she would try to make the effort. Tonight, they were all out celebrating the PPV, but Zoe couldn't bring herself to go out. Changing into a pair of shorts and a tank top, she curled up on her bed to watch some television. A knock at her door startled her. Pushing herself up, she made her way to the door, swinging it open.<p>

The sight before her made her lips curl slightly. No matter how mad she was at him, Zoe couldn't bring herself to stay mad as she found a grumpy CM Punk standing at her door, with a bottle of Pepsi in his hand.

"Can I help you?"

Punk rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry."

Zoe snorted, "No one is holding a gun to your head, Punk."

"No, but Cena looked like he was going to stab me while we were out, so I hightailed it back here to apologise for what I said earlier."

Zoe stepped aside to let him into her room, "It's fine, Punk, trust me." She closed the door as the two made their way into her hotel room, "You didn't have to end your night early for me."

The Straight-Edge Superstar shrugged, "I was bored of the drunks. Mizdick is too loud for his own good." He gestured towards her balcony, "Ah the perks of being Stephanie McMahon's new favourite employee.. Upgraded rooms with a view." Zoe followed him out onto the balcony, laughing as he made himself comfortable on the floor. He leant his back against the wall, patting the spot next to him, "C'mon, I don't bite."

Zoe sat down next to him, her shoulder brushing against his, "I don't believe that." His wink made her laugh, as she reached for his Pepsi, taking a swig from it.

Punk smirked, before averting his eyes to the night sky. The two stayed silent for a few moments. He sighed deeply, "Am I going to win at Money in the Bank?"

Zoe stilled for a moment at the blunt question. She honestly had no idea. They hadn't got that far in discussing the outcome for that PPV. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "I don't know yet." She paused, "We have to see what works best with what's planned for future storylines.."

"John winning again, isn't what's best."

Zoe frowned, glancing at him, "He's the company's no.1 guy-"

"And why can't they find a new number one guy?" exclaimed Punk, taking a drink from his Pepsi. "Why does he have to win again? Don't get me wrong, he's my friend. But c'mon, there's so many other guys who aren't getting the opportunites because the company plays it safe with having John as champion." He sighed, "Look, I get you guys are close, but you have to understand. There's more than just Cena."

The brunette dragged a hand through her hair, contemplating what he'd said, "I get it, Punk. I really do, but I have to do what's best."

Punk rolled his eyes, "Like that idiotic woman knows what is best." Zoe knew he meant Stephanie, "There has not been one decent angle come out of that woman at all. The Nexus angle was the most promising up until.. OH John Cena defeating THE ENTIRE TEAM."

Zoe turned to him, her legs curled in towards her, "People loved it-"

His snort rang out into the night air, "No fucking way. Go online and read how people thought how promising it was up until that point. When all else fails, get the company man to fix it up." He shook his head, chuckling darkly, I'm sick of being pushing aside for him, or for Randall. Yeah, they are my friends, but even they must know it's getting ridiculous now." His hand reached up to tug at his hair in frustration, "I'm seriously fucking sick of it all. No one in this company realises that they are wasting talent. It's not just me that they are wasting. It's other guys like Matt and Nick. It's fucking stupid. The entire place is run by morons."

Zoe's brow furrowed, and she reached out, tugging his hand from his hair. She kept his hand wrapped in both of hers, "Punk, c'mon, relax."

The wrestler took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, "I just want to wrestle, Zoe. I can't do that when they bury me in the midcard, or not anywhere on the card at all. I'm sick of being unsure what I'm worth to this company. I might as well go to New Japan Pro Wrestling or Ring of Honor. They'd appreciate me for what I'm worth. They know what wrestling is. They know what the fans want."

Her hands tightened around his, and she leaned forward to smooth his wayward hair back from his face, "You can't leave." Her whisper and gesture didn't go unnoticed by the Superstar, who stared at her, his anger fading. "You belong here."

Punk sighed, reaching over and tugging her legs into his lap. He smiled against her head, as she curled up against him, "You'd miss me too much, Princess."

Her giggle was muffled against his shoulder. She lifted her head from his shoulder, looking at him intently, "Seriously, Punk, you can't leave. This is your home."

"Doesn't feel like it sometimes."

Zoe wasn't going to forget that sad look in the eyes of the older man. Her brow furrowed as he looked out at the stars again. This CM Punk was much different to the one on television. He was so much more different to the man she had befriended. That day, she had met him in the waiting area of the WWE offices, she had seen the same sad look. She couldn't believe that the company wasn't treating one of their best superstars right, and she wanted to help him so much. Not knowing what to say, she leant over and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm sure things will get better, Punk."

CM Punk didn't know what possessed him to do it. Maybe it was the weeks of pent up emotion. Or just that he was at his most vulnerable. But he ducked his head down, and kissed her softly on the lips. He didn't know if things were going to get better, but right now, all his mind could think of was that there was no better place to be than on that balcony kissing Zoe Winters.

* * *

><p><span>July 11, 2011<span>

"You done?"

CM Punk scoffed, "Let's be honest, probably not." He looked amused at the WWE Champion as he paced in front of him in the ring, "But, would you like to say something?" He gestured towards the forgotten megaphone on the ground, "I have a megaphone-"

"No, I just want to make sure you get it all out, because you made a very truthful statement. We've been waiting for about five years to say that you actually have a set of balls. Congratulations."

"I'm so glad they're sticking to the script this time."

Zoe Winters turned her attention from the monitor in front of her to glance at the tall man next to her. She nodded at Paul Levesque, "Me too."

He folded his arms across his chest, "I believe you had nothing to do with it, Zoe." Her eyes widened, and he sighed, "I knew Punk was having some issues for a while with the way his character was being used. I just didn't think he'd drag you down with him." He watched the scripted confrontation between CM Punk and John Cena unfold on the monitor, "They seem a bit too angry with each other, don't they?"

Zoe turned her attention back to the screen, as a stony faced John Cena continued to rip into Punk.

"... I didn't come out here to run my mouth," exclaimed John Cena, in front of the cheering fans, "You think you're great, here's what I think. I don't care if you got a mic, or a megaphone. I don't care if you stay or if you go. I don't care if Vince McMahon fires me or he's full of it. I think I'm coming to Money in the Bank in Chicago to whip your ass." He threw down the microphone and stared angrily at Punk.

Punk smirked at him, knowing the crowd couldn't hear him, "Is that what you think is going to happen?"

John shook his head, "Don't fuck this up for her."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want."

* * *

><p>Monday Night Raw continued without too many disruptions. Zoe continued to fret nervously backstage about the upcoming contract negotiations that were to take place in the ring to close the show. She'd work tirelessly over the script for the past week and knew it was a bit controversial, but after reading the internet reports Punk gave her, she knew she had to play right to what the fans wanted. She spotted Vince McMahon heading towards her, and she took a deep breath, realising that the scowl on his face was probably because of her.<p>

"Mr. McMahon.."

The Chairman of the WWE cut her off, waving the script in his hand, "What is this?"

"The script," whispered Zoe, "Look, Sir, I did some research and the fans are enjoying the conflict and the insider references and I just wanted to keep it authentic."

Vince waved the script, angrily, "I look like an idiot."

Zoe's eyes widened, "No, no, Mr. McMahon, I never meant that!" She shook her head, repeatedly, "With all due respect, Sir, I never meant for that to be the case."

A new voice interrupted the exchange, "Dad, give the kid a break. I think it will be alright, as long as Punk sticks to it."

The young writer looked thankfully at Paul Levesque, who had interrupted the exchange between the Chairman and her. She turned back to Vince, her voice still small, "Please, Mr. McMahon, I promise you, he won't go off script."

Vince sighed, running a hand over his face, "You better be right, Ms. Winters. As much as I'd hate to admit it, your opening segment generated an amazing amount of viewers. I'd hate to think the only reason people are watching is because they think my company is falling to pieces." A production assistant gestured to them that the commercial break was almost over, "I'd hate to think what would happen, Miss Winters, if this all goes wrong."

Zoe bit her lip, watching as her boss left for the gorilla area to begin the segment. She glanced back at Paul Levesque, "Thank you."

He nodded, "I agree with him. I'd hate to think what would happen if this doesn't go well, Miss Winters."

* * *

><p>What none of them expected was for one John Cena to lost it at the end of the segment, and punch CM Punk in the face. The script had only called for him to push him, but after a week of Zoe being upset and watching his friends fall apart, the WWE champion had had enough, and clocked Punk square in the face. As the trio came backstage, Zoe's face contorted with anger as she watched Punk step through the curtain, clutching his face, and John enter with a look of anger.<p>

"What the hell is wrong with you, John?" screeched Zoe as she followed the two of them to their shared locker room, "It's bad enough I have to worry about him ruining the segment, I now have to worry about you?"

John shrugged, nonchalently, "He'll live."

Zoe shoved him, a scowl marring her features, "You're just as bad as him. I don't give a fuck what your feelings are about him right now, but you just do your job-"

"While he runs around risking your job?"

"That's my problem, not yours!" yelled Zoe, pointing a finger accusingly at him, "You risked it tonight as well, dumbass." The two stared at each other, angrily, ignoring all the commotion around them.

CM Punk's voice broke their staring contest, "I'm fine by the way, if anyone was wondering."

"No one gives a fuck."

He looked taken aback at the curse that left Zoe's lips, before a smirk danced across his lips, "You used to." His smirk widened as Zoe's eyes widened slightly, at the real meaning behind his words.

John frowned, glancing between the two. He had no idea about the kiss shared between the two weeks earlier. But as he took in Zoe's guilty expression, he feared something like that had happened, and shook his head, "Jesus Christ, I don't even want to know anymore." He pushed the locker room door open, disappearing inside to change, leaving the Straight-Edge Superstar and the Creative writer outside.

"You're such an asshole," whispered Zoe, her eyes brimming with tears again. She watched him open his mouth, and she cut him off, "No, don't say anything. Seriously, I'm sick of crying over you, Punk. You were my friend." She sighed, wiping the lone tear that made its way down her face, "I can't wait for July 17th. I can't wait to never have to work with you again."

She turned to leave before she heard Punk speak, "You don't mean that."

Her eyes closed briefly as she sighed, "I wish I did."

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed that!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Apologies for the delay in updating! Thank you again for all the reviews. Seriously, Miserlou, you kill my life with your animated reviews! Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>June 20, 2011<span>

"There's my favourite suit!"

Zoe Winters rolled her eyes, as she entered the locker room, "I'm looking for John, is he here?"

CM Punk shook his head, from his spot on the bench, "Catering stuffing his face." Zoe sent him an appreciative smile, before turning to leave the locker room. "Not going to wait here?"

The brunette paused, her hand resting on the doorknob. She bit her lip. She had business to attend to, but she knew that she'd been avoiding all of them for too long. Sighing, she spun around, a small smile on her face. She sat down beside Punk, raising an eyebrow at him, "Happy?"

His lip ring glinted in the bright locker room light, as his lips curled into a smirk, "Very." A few moments of silence passed between them. Punk snorted, "Wow, really? This is how it's going to be now?"

Zoe raised an eyebrow at him, her eyes wide, "How what's going to be?"

"After last night.." He chuckled at her blush, "I shouldn't have done that."

"Shit happens."

Punk looked momentarily appalled, "I wouldn't call what happened shit." He noticed her giggle, and he rolled his eyes, wrapping an arm around her to squeeze her to his side, "We good?"

Zoe tilted her head up to kiss him on the cheek, "Great." Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she groaned, plucking it out from her suit jacket, "I got to go, Punk."

Punk sighed, watching as she jumped up to leave, "We still on for tonight?" At her blank look, he rolled his eyes, "Movie?"

Zoe's mouth formed a small o, "Yeah, of course, I miss you guys!"

The bright smile on her face did nothing to reassure CM Punk that she would be attending tonight. As he strapped on his wrestling boots, he knew deep down that she wasn't coming. And what shocked him, was that he didn't even care all that much anymore.

* * *

><p>"Miss Winters, the board is quite impressed with your outlines for the CM Punk and John Cena storyline leading up to Money in the Bank."<p>

Zoe blushed at the compliment by Paul Levesque. It wasn't every day that she was invited to dinner with the man, known to millions as Triple H, and his wife, and several other executives. Taking a bite from her salad, she smiled politely, "Thank you so much. I was so worried that I wasn't going to impress you at all!"

Stephanie McMahon-Levesque laughed, placing a reassuring hand on the girl's arm, "Honestly honey, nothing shocks us anymore after some of the things I have overseen."

The group shared a laugh, and Zoe grinned at her employer. Over the weeks of being placed in charge of the storyline, she had been meeting with Stephanie and other members of staff on occasion. They were inviting her to dinners and drinks in order to discuss the company and the future of Superstars and storylines. It was a huge help to her, knowing how they were reacting to her ideas about Punk's storyline. She reached for her glass, sipping on the cool water, "I'll try my hardest not to shock you."

John Laurinaitis spoke from across the table, "Speaking of shocking, who is the winner of the match between the two?"

Before Zoe could respond, the Creative Team's Second in Charge, Jake Ritter, spoke up, "It's obviously going to be Cena, right?"

Silence descended upon the table as all eyes stared at Zoe. She chewed her lip, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. This was awkward. Paul Levesque raised an eyebrow, "It's not Cena?"

By the looks on their faces, Zoe knew that putting CM Punk as Champion was not going to go well with the Executives. "It's undecided as of yet. I'm still tossing up between the two." She fiddled with her napkin, nervously, "I was thinking of going with another screwjob, maybe?"

She watched as a few of the faces on the table lit up. The silence lifted and the Executives discussed amongst themselves about the possibilities of who to screw and how it would go down. Zoe's eyes caught Jake Ritter's eyes and he nodded at her. A small voice to her left distracted her, and she came face to face with Paul Levesque as he leaned across his wife, "Nice save."

Zoe took a sip from her drink, flashing him a shaky smile, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

He leaned back, sharing a quick grin with his wife, "Does that man honestly look like the face of this company?"

"Neither did a rapping white boy."

Stephanie pushed her tongue into her cheek, a smirk curling her lips, "She has a point, Paul." She sighed, running a hand through her dark hair, "Look, Zoe, we are all for pushing the talent, but at the end of the day, you need to know exactly what's going to be good for this company. I admire your angle already. The way you're heading with this storyline, creating the conflict with Punk and John over John's status as the golden boy is excellent. The insider references I have to say are minimum but say a lot to make people think it's actually real. But what you need to think about is what's best for the company, and I'm sure you already have a good idea what that is." She lowered her voice, "No matter who you really want to win, Zoe, you know you can't choose them based on that reason alone."

Paul smirked at her, as he took a drink from his beer, "No romancing the Superstars, Zoe. You know how that might end-"

"And how might that end, Paul?"

Zoe's nervousness vanished at the impending domestic about to erupt next to her. She smiled at the bickering couple, laughing as Stephanie bitched to her about Paul. The former Evolution leader pouted, leaning over to grab a kiss from his wife. He shook his head, laughing as she ducked out of the way. Rolling his eyes, he raised his beer bottle, "Now a toast to wish Miss Winters all the best with her first venture as a Creative team leader." The others raised their glasses, and Zoe blushed as they congratulated her and wished her luck for the story. From the corner of her eye, she noticed three people in the lobby of the hotel. Her heart dropped. She knew immediately that sitting in the hotel restaurant with the Executives was going to be a bad idea. She kept the smile plastered to her lips as Stephanie engaged her in conversation once again.

"Well, guess she's too busy for tonight."

Eve Torres sighed, readjusting the bag of icecream in her arms, "Yeah, too busy again."

John chewed his lip, watching as Zoe joked with the Executives. He couldn't believe she was ditching another night again. He sighed, turning to leave the hotel lobby and head up to the room, a bag of DVDs in his hands. "Let's go, Punk."

CM Punk took a last glance at the dark haired girl in the hotel restaurant, laughing with Stephanie and Paul Levesque. He shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping his lips, "Don't say I didn't warn you this was going to happen, Johnny Boy."

* * *

><p><span>June 22, 2011<span>

"Yo, baby girl, you rang?"

"For once, Cena, for once, I would like to hear you talk proper English."

John Cena shot a smirk at his friend, pushing him inside the meeting room at the WWE offices in Los Angeles. The duo had been called into a meeting with Zoe in order to discuss their upcoming storyline together. They hadn't seen Zoe since that Monday Night Raw. They'd tried calling her the next day, but she had brushed them off saying she was busy again. While the two wrestlers bickered between each other, they failed to notice the room full of WWE Creative employees.

A cough echoed through the room, and the two spun around to find numerous pairs of eyes staring at them. CM Punk's eyebrows raised considerably, "This is awkward."

Zoe stood from her seat, gesturing them to sit down, "Hey guys, take a seat."

John gave her a small smile, his eyes nervously taking in the other employees surrounding them, "Didn't think we were going to have company, Zo'."

"Can't go anywhere without her entourage of suits." The glare Punk received from Zoe had his lips curling. There was the old Zoe, he thought. He winked at her, slyly, "Shall we begin?"

Clearing her throat, Zoe shuffled through a pile of papers in front of her and handed two documents to the wrestlers seated near her. "These are your outlines for your storyline leading up to, and including, Money in the Bank. There is also the final script for Monday Night Raw this week, where Punk will interfere in John's match and cut a promo on John, which will kickoff the feud."

John flicked through the large document, "So how's this going down?"

Another employee of the Creative team spoke up from across the table, "We are recreating the Montreal Screw Job.. Except you know, everyone is in on it."

"Who wins?"

The same employee smiled, "You do, Mr. Cena, of course."

John's smile broadened, his dimples showing predominantly. But to his left, CM Punk was a totally different story. His eyebrows furrowed into a frown, as he tuned out of the conversation between the Creative team and Cena. He read through the pile of papers in his hands, dread building in his stomach. After everything with his contract signing, he would've thought they would've at least directed the Creative team to let him win. Just this once. His eyes glanced over at Zoe, who was beaming as John talked animatedly about the storyline and how they should create the screw job. He sighed, wondering if she really had listened that night when he'd told her everything he'd thought about the WWE. Sure, he hated John being the golden boy. But that wasn't his huge issue. His issue was that he was being overlooked again. As the meeting continued on, he couldn't for the life of him remember any of it. He'd tuned out the entire time. Instead, he had kept his eyes glued to the pages detailing his promo that he was to cut on the coming Monday Night Raw. His opportunity was right there in front of him, and he knew he had to take it. He heard chairs shuffling next to him, and he realised the meeting was over. Punk stumbled up, hurrying to follow John before he heard a small voice call out to him.

"You ok, Punk?"

He turned around to face Zoe. He tried to plaster a smile on his face, as everyone moved past him to leave the room, "I'm great."

Zoe folded her arms over her chest, a slim eyebrow raised, "You didn't say anything about what we've prepared for you. Are you okay with it?"

Punk sighed, "Yeah, it's alright-"

"Oh thank god!" shrieked Zoe, her lips curling into a wide smile, "I wasn't sure why you were so quiet, and I was so worried that you hated it. I worked all week on it and ingested a goddamn lot of coffee-"

"How come I'm not Champion?"

Zoe's face fell, and she bit her lip nervously. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed, "I'm sorry, Punk. But they wanted something that was going to be a ratings success, and we all figured this was the best solution. It's what's best for the company."

In that moment, CM Punk realised he needed to get far away from Zoe Winters. And as quick as possible. His grip around the papers in his hands tightened, and his tongue pushed into his cheek. With a nod of his head, he smirked at her, "Best for the company. That's fine. Anyway, I'll see you later, Zo'." He spun around on his heel, and left the room. As he made his way down the corridor, the anger boiled up in him. He thought she would be on his side. Hell, he thought the entire company had listened to him that day in the office when he was negotiating his contract. With a growl, he stormed into the elevator to make his way down to the lobby. Zoe Winters had turned into the exact people that he had told her he had hated. None of those executives were thinking about what the fans wanted. The smirk on his face grew as he rode the elevator. He knew exactly what the fans wanted. And what he wanted.

And he knew the best opportunity to tell them.

To tell the world.

* * *

><p><span>July 17, 2011<span>

"You two aren't going to kill each other, are you?"

John Cena glanced over at a nervous looking Mike Mizanin, and rolled his eyes. It was the night of Money in the Bank, and he was sharing a locker room with CM Punk, the Miz and several other Superstars. Ever since he delivered that punch to CM Punk the week before on Raw, the two friends had barely spoken to each other, leaving Mike in an interesting predicament as to which friend he supported. The WWE Champion turned his attention to the tattooed Superstar sitting opposite him. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

Punk paused from inspecting his boots to raise an eyebrow at the Champion, "What?"

"I'm sorry." John rolled his eyes at the look of glee that crossed Punk's face, "Oh c'mon man, I'm not repeating myself."

"I get Vince and the golden boy to apologise to me in a week!"

Miz looked heavenward, shaking his head, "Look what you've done."

A knock on the locker room door interrupted the group of friends, and it swung open to reveal Zoe Winters. Clad in a brand new suit pants, and a tight white blouse, she stepped into the locker room, her eyes trained on John Cena. "Hey ladies, mind if I have a word to Cena?" The WWE Champion wordlessly followed out the young writer, leaving Miz and Punk in the locker room.

The Miz had been watching as Zoe had entered the room. CM Punk had avoided all eye contact with her, and instead, had made himself busy with getting prepped for his match. He raised an eyebrow, "Wonder what they're talking about."

"Don't care."

The Miz tried to hold in his smirk at the curt reply, "Yes, you do."

Punk rolled his eyes, "All I care about is becoming Champion tonight."

"How's it going down?"

The Straight-Edge Superstar smirked, "Winning cleanly with a GTS." He glanced at his phone, checking the time. "Anyway, I'm going to grab something to eat. Want to join?" At the Miz's shake of the head, the tattooed man left the locker room alone to find some food in catering. As he walked down the hallway, he spotted John and Zoe talking. He kept his head down as he approached them. John turned to leave, and Zoe called out to Punk, stopping him dead in his tracks. "What?" He drawled, bored.

Zoe rolled her eyes at his tone, "Just a last minute change to the script."

CM Punk raised an eyebrow, "What's happening?"

"I need you to run out of the arena when you win," explained Zoe, "According to them, you haven't signed a contract so I want you to run out of the arena just to create more drama."

The wrestler nodded, folding his arms over his chest, "Any other changes I need to know about?" The smirk on Zoe's face unnerved him a little. It was exactly like his own, and even though she was shaking her head to his question, he knew something was up. Returning her smirk, he turned on his heel and made his way down the hallway, wondering what the hell was going on.

* * *

><p>Being in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois was an amazing experience. The crowd was 100% behind CM Punk, and the pop that he received upon entering the arena will forever remain with him. He had spotted several signs in the crowd stating 'If Punk loses, we riot.' He shared their sentiments completely. The match had been going for over 20 minutes before John Cena fell out of the ring, and was sprawled outside the ring. With a look of anguish, CM Punk knew he needed to get his giant oaf of a best mate back in the ring as part of the spot in their match. As he lifted the WWE Champion, he spied two figures making their way from the gorilla area and down the ramp. With a scowl on his features, he growled as the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, and the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, made their way towards the ring. Crawling into the ring, the tattooed superstar's stomach filled with dread for the second time that week. They couldn't be screwing him over. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. As he clambered back into the ring, John pulled him into an STF, and his eyes almost bugged out of his head as he watched the events around him unfold.<p>

John had him in the STF and Punk watched as Vince McMahon pushed John Laurinaitis towards the bell to signal that he had tapped, when he hadn't. This wasn't supposed to happen. Over the boos of the crowd, he heard John speak quietly to him, "When I get back in the ring, hit the GTS and pin me. Also Del Rio is coming out. Kick him and run."

Without any time to respond to the hurried instructions from his friend, CM Punk watched in shock as John slid out of the ring, pushing John Laurinaitis to the ground. As the WWE Champion slid back into the ring, Punk did as he was told, and lifted the man onto his shoulders, performing his signature move. The crowd erupted as the referee counted to three, crowning CM Punk the new WWE Champion. The feeling that Punk was experiencing was unbelievable. Being in Chicago and winning the championship was like nothing else. He paraded around the ring, holding the belt proudly. It was then that he noticed Vince running for the announcer's desk and calling Alberto Del Rio down to the ring. Remembering John's words, Punk kicked Del Rio in the back of the head, and grabbed the championship, running for the barricades. He blew a kiss to the WWE Chairman and ran through the crowd, hoisting the belt up high as he reached the top. He sprinted down the hallways of the arena. He needed to get back backstage and fast. He needed to find one Zoe Winters.

"What the hell was that?"

He didn't care that they were in the middle of the monitor bay and several Superstars were nearby. CM Punk needed answers. Sure, he was Champion, but something didn't feel right about the possible screw job that almost happened. His hazel eyes met the dark eyes of Zoe Winters, her lips curled into a smirk. She stood there, her arms folded over her chest, and her hip cocked out to one side, "That, Brooks, was the Summer of Punk."

"What did you do?"

"I made you Champion, aren't you happy?"

"At what cost?"

"What do you care?" snapped Zoe, her smirk faltering for a second as she glared intently at the older man in front of her. The smirk returned to her face, "I've created a ratings success, Punk. You don't think I actually did this for you. The entire board voted against you being champion." She watched as he turned to leave, and quickly spoke again, "You didn't think I was going to find out, did you?"

The newly crowned champion turned slowly to face the young woman. He had a very good feeling he knew what she was talking about, and that wasn't a good thing. With an eyebrow raised, and a look of innocence, he spoke, "Find out what?"

"All WWE contracts have a 21 day change your mind option." Some Superstars had now gathered around the two of them to watch what was about to unfold, "Superstars have 21 days before their original contract expiry to dispute anything in their new contracts, and possibly change their minds about signing." Her smirk faltered again, and a look of anger formed on Zoe's face. She took a step closer to the new WWE Champion. "On the 27th of June, Phil Brooks entered in a dispute claim for his new contract after disagreements over his new angle." She took another step closer, "Phil Brooks has until the 17th of July to resign his contract, or his contract will terminate with the company." Zoe was inches away from Punk as she took another step closer, "That dotted line hasn't got a signature on it yet, does it?"

The other Superstars watched as Punk shook his head, his eyes staring intently at Zoe, "No, it doesn't."

"You really are an idiot."

Punk smirked, "Then why did you give me the title?"

Zoe's face lit up again as another smirk curled her red lips, "I'm a selfish person, Punk. I created the most intriguing storyline for the Summer. The response to this PPV has been phenomenal." She clucked her tongue, "I'm the best in the world. The fans got what they wanted. You got what you wanted, and most of all, I got what I wanted."

Realisation dawned on CM Punk, "You changed the booking so it looked like I really did leave the company.."

"And we have a winner," exclaimed Zoe. As confident as she looked on the outside, inside she was trembling. She was facing off with Punk, and in front of all these Superstars, and she was scared as hell. Keeping her smirk in place, she folded her arms over her chest again, "If you don't sign your contract, Punk, we just erase you out of the history books and create a new Champion. But if you do resign, you're going to have to face the new Champion that will be crowned tomorrow night on Raw. And most importantly, I won't be a part of that storyline. You'll have new writers looking after you, just like you wanted." She pushed her tongue into her cheek, "And you know what the best part is, Punk. They hate you just as much as I hate you, so don't think they're going to go easy on you. This is what you get for screwing us over."

With a wink, Zoe Winters spun on her heel, and left a fuming CM Punk standing in the monitor bay with a group of Superstars staring at the disappearing Creative Writer in wonder. As she made her way down the corridor, her face fell and sobs started shaking her body. She could hear footsteps behind her, and she knew who it was. She spun around and wrapped her arms around the man's neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

John Cena rubbed her back, holding her tightly to him, "Zo'.."

"I want the old Punk back."

The former Champion sighed, kissing her forehead quickly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leading her down the corridor. He needed to get her mind off her former friend, and fast. "I've got some news for you."

"What?" She sniffled, rubbing her nose on her sleeve.

"Some Superstars want to talk to you about taking over their storyline."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"You made Punk become a household name in three weeks." He clutched her tighter to him, "Beth Phoenix is entering a title feud with Kelly Kelly."

Zoe's eyebrows stayed raised, "Two faces?"

John's lips quirked into a small smile, "Beth wants you to push for her to turn heel." The look of glee that crossed Zoe's face made John uneasy, "I knew your evil mind would enjoy that."

Wiping a tear away from her face, the dark haired woman smirked, "I know some blonde hair extensions that could do with some tearing out."

John rolled his eyes, leading her towards his locker room, "That's my girl. You're going to be fine, trust me."

Zoe sighed, glancing over her shoulder at a familiar figure further down the corridor, "Yeah. Yeah I think I will be."

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed that! And remember to review my pretties!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

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><p><span>July 18, 2011<span>

CM Punk never signed that contract.

The next night on Raw, the backstage area was buzzing with the predicament the company now found itself in. There was a former wrestler now running through the streets of Chicago with the WWE Championship, and flaunting his win over the internet. Zoe Winters had to admit the photo of the WWE belt in the fridge was hysterical, but she had a feeling the Executives were not finding it amusing at all. The Creative writer had spent the evening in deep discussions with the Creative team and Stephanie McMahon on where they were to go from here. A tournament was organised, and on the following Raw, the final match would take place before John Cena was entitled to a rematch. He was booked to be Champion that week. Zoe couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as they outlined the next two weeks. Everything that Punk said was true. When all else failed, the company looked to John Cena. She loved John, but even she knew that this was getting stale. Considering the anarchy she had already been a part of the past few weeks, she kept her mouth tightly shut, and didn't question the team's decision to book him as Champion.

Raw was underway and Zoe was making her way backstage. With no new storyline for her to start on, she was free to wander around the backstage area and take in the live show. She bit back a laugh, however, when she spotted a familiar blonde making a beeline for her. Her laugh echoed through the corridor, as the woman known to the world as Beth Phoenix, looped her arm through Zoe's and steered her in the opposite direction.

"Nice to see you too, Beth."

The blonde Diva grinned at her, pulling her into her locker room that she shared with Maryse and the Bella Twins. Much to Zoe's amusement, Maryse was present in the locker room, lounging on the couch and filing her nails. She raised an eyebrow as the two entered the room, and sighed audibly, "Merd.. what's going on?"

Zoe shot her friend a grin, and took a seat next to her on the couch, before facing a pacing Beth. "No, seriously, what's going on?"

Elizabeth Kocianski was a determined woman. It had been over a year since she had been champion, and months since she had had a decent storyline. The last decent match she had in the ring was at Survivor Series the year before when her and Natalya competed in the first ever Diva's tag team tables match. Ever since then, the 31 year old former champion wondered if she would be ever back on top of the Diva's division. After watching the debacle with CM Punk, she knew that the only way to make her interesting and make her upcoming title reign significant was if she did something completely unexpected. And that's why she needed Zoe Winters. She took a seat beside the young writer, and sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I need your help."

Zoe nodded, "With what?"

"I'm going to win the number one contender's match in two weeks. And then I get a match against Kelly at Summerslam for the title." She ran her hand through her hair, nervously, "We are both booked as faces."

Zoe arched an eyebrow, "That sounds boring as hell."

Maryse snorted, pausing from filing her nails, "Que? Are you supposed to hug at the end of the match?"

Beth threw her hands in the air, groaning, "It's not fair! I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose if I'm still booked as a face, and we'll hug it out after she wrestles-"

"If you can call it that."

"Maryse!" hissed Zoe, stifling a laugh at the bored French Canadian. She understood exactly where these Divas were coming from. As she had been a fan for years, Zoe had seen the demise of the Diva's division. The models were taking over, and while Kelly Kelly was beautiful and popular with the fans, it didn't really translate into the pin up girl for the Diva's division. Beth, Maryse and Natalya were by far the better workers of the division, and unfortunately had been cast aside to push Vince's favourites. Zoe chewed her lip, her mind in overload at the idea of working with Beth on some sort of storyline to shake up the Diva's division. "I have an idea, but let me work on it for a few days and I'll get back to you about it."

Beth smiled, "Thank you so much. I really appreciate this, and I know you're having a hard time.."

Zoe raised a slim eyebrow, "Who said I was having a hard time?" Her eyes followed as Beth looked to Maryse for help, who just flashed them both an uneasy smile. "Maryse.."

The French-Canadian rolled her eyes, and groaned, "Mon dieu." She sat up and patted the arm of her friend, "We just were worried that you were still a bit.. upset.. with the whole Punk situation."

"I'm not upset," snapped Zoe. She fiddled with the hem of her pencil skirt, "I don't even care anymore."

Beth pursed her lips, "You know he was right that night. You've seen it first hand what he was talking about." She placed a reassuring hand on Zoe's shoulder, "I get what he did was wrong. He's an ass like that. But he said what we were all feeling, and it's about time something started to change around here, that's why I asked you for help."

"Does everyone like risking my job?"

Maryse flashed her a wide smile, "Punk made it look like so much fun." Beth snorted as Maryse hugged Zoe tight to her, "You know we love you. If you find it too risky, you don't have to do it."

Zoe shrugged, "What's the worst that can happen?"

Barely a minute had passed after she said that before the Miz came flying through their locker room door, a broad smile on his face, "Vince is getting fired!"

Beth rubbed her temples, "Why is he so loud?"

The trio of women darted after the lively Miz as they raced through the corridors to the monitor bay, where many of the wrestlers were watching in complete shock as Triple H announced that Vince was relieved of his services. The backstage area was buzzing once again with the chaos that was now surrounding the WWE. Eve Torres furrowed her brow, glancing at Matt Cardona beside her, "I'm trying to figure out when this show stopped being scripted.." While the wrestlers discussed between each other the events that had just unfolded, Zoe darted forward to hug John as he made his way backstage.

He chuckled, wrapping her tightly in his arms, "You knew I wouldn't be fired."

"I didn't know Vince would be!" whispered Zoe, quietly to him, "What the hell is going on?" Her eyes darted to gaze past John as Paul Levesque returned backstage. She pushed herself out of John's arms, and ran as quick as she could in her black heels, after the new COO of the company. "Paul!"

The long haired man spun around, his arm wrapped tightly around his wife's waist, "Miss Winters? How can I help you?"

Zoe stopped, her face confused, "What's going on?" She looked between the two of them, "Everyone's so confused. What was that?"

Stephanie sighed, pushing a strand of hair back off her face. She stepped forward to the young woman, a reassuring smile on her lips, "You have to understand my father is not always going to run this company. Eventually, someone else is going to take over, and we decided it was best to do it this way."

"It's what's best for the company," stated Paul. "Vince knew about the whole thing. He'd rather it a surprise, and he wanted to go out in front of the WWE Universe." He reached forward to grab his wife's hand again, "Miss Winters, you of all people should know by now that we do what's best for the company. No matter how much you like a person..." He paused momentarily, thinking over his words, "Or dislike a person, you have to do some things that you know are going to make this company work." He tugged on Stephanie's hand, "C'mon honey, we've got dinner plans with your parents."

Zoe watched as they walked down the hallway, and her forehead crinkled in confusion.

This was most definitely not in the job description.

* * *

><p><span>July 25, 2011<span>

"You want Beth to turn heel?"

"I don't know why you squealed that. Must you be so dramatic?"

John Cena shoved some chips into his mouth, "I did not squeal."

Zoe Winters looked momentarily appalled at the chomped food in John's mouth. Rolling her eyes, she took a sip of her Coke, and readjusted her sunglasses on her head. The two were enjoying a quiet lunch in Hampton, Virginia. The July 25th Live Raw Show was scheduled to film in that town. They had arrived early and decided to grab a bite to eat before the rest of the roster arrived in town. Zoe had finally settled on turning Beth Phoenix heel the next week on Raw after her number one contender's match. She had already run it past Stephanie, who was on board with the idea, and tonight they were finalising it with the rest of the Creative team. Sure the Diva's division was a step down from what she was working with before, but Zoe was just grateful she still had a job after the Punk saga. "I think it will be good for the girls."

The Boston native shrugged, "I guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just think you're wasting your time working with them."

The dark haired woman pursed her lips, "I'm trying to make people think the Diva's division is not a waste of time." She poured herself some more Coke from the jug on the table, "Beth deserves to be Champion and you know that."

John fiddled with his cap on his head, "Zo', I know, but-"

Zoe held up her hands, "No, I'm not working on your angle, ok? You men lose your shit over those titles and I really do not want to be a part of that again." She rolled her eyes at John's amused face, "You know you guys get all wierd over those belts-"

"Titles."

She waved her hand, dismissively, stealing a slice of pizza from his plate, "Should you really be eating this before tonight?"

"The Champ can eat what he want."

Zoe chuckled, "You're not champion until you beat Rey Mysterio tonight."

As the two returned to eating their meals, John mused over the idea to show Zoe something on his phone. Zoe noticed the look on John's face and raised an eyebrow, "John, you okay?"

He fiddled with his pocket, and pulled out his phone, "Have you seen this?"

"That's a phone, honey-" He glared at her, and she grinned. He pointed to the screen, where a video started to play, "Why are you showing me video of Comic-Con?"

"Just watch."

Her eyes widened as Phil Brooks appeared on the screen. Entranced by the events unfolding, Zoe watched in interest as CM Punk crashed the Comic-Con event, and took part in the Q&A session with Triple H. She was impressed that Paul had managed to stay in character as Punk took the stand. But it was the final part that John was more worried about.

_"Well you know where to find me, and I'm sure Stephanie has my phone number, so you can call me anytime."_

_"I'll just call Zoe and get it off her."_

John switched off the video and Zoe looked at him, her eyebrows knitted together, "Zo', you okay?"

Zoe hated lying to John after so many years of knowing each other. But right now, telling him that she was not okay with what had been said was going to distract the man from focusing on his match tonight. She loved him to pieces, but she knew that he would go into protective mode and smother her. She tried to plaster a convincing smile on her face, and waved her hand, dismissively, "I deleted Punk's number, so Paul's going to have a hard time finding the guy."

John Cena wasn't convinced. For the years that he had known the young woman, he knew that she was lying. She was a good liar when she wanted to be, but he knew right now, it killed her not knowing where Punk was. He knew that their friendship was close even though they had barely known each other for two months. But the two had spent so much time together, that he always wondered if anything had transpired between the two. With a sigh, he decided to leave it and not bother her. In her own time, she would tell him if she was really alright. His thoughts were interrupted by a shrill ring, and he watched amused as the brunette opposite him, rummaged through her bag to find her mobile.

"Hello?" She breathed into the phone, hoping she hadn't missed the call, "Oh hey Paul..Nah, I'm not busy. Want me to come in now? Sure, right away." She hung up the call and threw it into her purse. Without even looking at John, she grabbed her wallet and pulled out some bills throwing them on the table as she stood up, "That should cover my meal. Thanks Johnny."

His deep chuckle broke her mad dash from the table, and she stumbled, placing her bag on the table, watching in interest as the man chuckled darkly, "Glad to see you're not too busy for Paul and Stephanie."

Zoe folded her arms under her chest, "Excuse me?"

The mood surrounding the table dropped instantaneously. John's face formed into a scowl, "Drop everything for them, and not for us."

"Is this because I missed a couple of movie nights and days out with you guys?" She asked incredulously, "Are you kidding me with this shit? Because I chose to further my career over hanging out with you guys."

John snapped, "You can say no to them, Zoe. You don't have to be at their beck and call!"

"Some of us have to work hard, Cena. Not everything is handed to us on a silver platter!"

As the words left her mouth, she swatted her hand over her lips, horror covering her features. Her dark eyes watched as John's face fell. He pushed himself up off his chair, and threw some money on the table. Zoe bit back a small sob that was threatening to come out. She hadn't meant to say that at all. With a quiet whisper, she tried to get John's attention. "John, please."

He shook his head, sadly, "You don't think I've heard it before, Zoe? You of all people should know." He turned his back to her, leaving the restaurant without a goodbye.

Zoe chewed her lip, brushing tears from her eyes. She hated being the emotional one, but after the past few weeks, she was turning into a mess at the slightest confrontation. Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she darted from the cafe to find a cab to head back to the arena. She had a list of things to do, including finalising Beth's storyline, help Paul and Stephanie with tonight's show, apologise to John, and most importantly, find out how the hell CM Punk had a title belt with his OWN name on it at Comic-Con.

* * *

><p>"Can I come in?"<p>

John Cena glanced up as Zoe Winters entered his locker room. He barely had a chance to get up off the bench before the young brunette threw herself at him, clinging to his neck. He sighed, wrapping his arms around her back, "Zo'.."

"I'm sorry!" He barely heard the muffled apology as her head was buried into the side of his neck. She leaned back to look at him, a watery smile gracing her face, "I hate fighting with you."

John smiled, kissing her cheek, "I'm sorry for snapping at you too. I know you love this job-"

"And I know you love it too, John." She sighed, hugging him tighter, "I know you work hard, Johnny, I'm so sorry."

The Boston native returned the tight hug, "I know, baby girl." He kissed her cheek again, "Now go do your work, I have to prep to be champ again." Zoe smiled at the grin forming on his face. His dimples were showing proudly and she giggled, pinching his cheek before darting out of the room. She loved John to pieces and knew the two of them couldn't stay mad at each other for long. Her smile lit up her face as she realised her night was going to be good now she had apologised.

Her mood lifted again when Beth smothered her in a hug when she read through her outline for the next Raw. The Glamazon was having a week off from competing this week, but still travelled with the Raw show to watch the other Divas compete. The blonde Diva looped her arm through Zoe's, and pulled her down the corridor.

"I get to rip her extensions out!"

Zoe looked heavenward, "Try and make it look like an accident, Elizabeth."

Beth patted her arm, reassuringly, "I'll try my best." The duo arrived at the monitor bay, where some other wrestlers were gathered around the televisions. Zoe always found it amusing, that despite the fact they all knew what was going to happen on the show, the Superstars and Divas of the WWE still gathered around the televisions and discussed the show. The final match of the night was on, and Zoe couldn't help but smile as she watched John celebrate in the ring with his title. The new Champion raised Rey Mysterio's hand in respect, knowing that he was now out for a few months to recover from injuries. Zoe had pushed for Rey to be the winner of the match between him and the Miz, and Mike had agreed on the condition he got to steal Rey's mask after the show. The young writer bit back a laugh, shaking her head at the memory. Her eyebrows furrowed when the music changed to a new theme song. She glanced at the wrestlers beside her, watching the screens intently.

"What the hell is going on?"

Mike Mizanin shrugged, and pointed at the screen, "John looks just as confused as we do - Oh Jesus.."

Zoe's jaw dropped as she heard the Superstars and Divas beside her watched in wonder, "Punk."

CM Punk had returned.

Jumping to her feet, Zoe Winters made a dash down the corridor towards the row of offices that staffed the Executives. She rapped her knuckles across the door of one particular Executive, and without even hearing the request to come in, she barged through the door, her hair flying across her face. Her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips quickly, as the Creative writer stared at the new COO. "You did this!"

Paul Levesque smiled from behind his desk, "Close the door."

Zoe shook her head, her grip still tight on the door handle. Unbeknownst to him, she was keeping herself upright. All the excitement and drama of the past two minutes was making her feel uneasy and lightheaded. "You resigned him, didn't you?"

"I did what had to be done." He pulled out a manila folder from his briefcase, and waved it with a grin on his face, "You really need to stop dropping things, or leaving things behind in meetings."

Zoe snatched the folder, flicking through it quickly to see that they were the papers that Punk had given her the day she met with the Board. "How do you keep getting these?"

The new COO leaned back in his chair, his arms resting across his chest, "Your co-worker, Jake Ritter, has been exceptionally worried about you, and is keeping tabs on you. How do you think we found that sheet with Punk's promo on it?" He smirked, as her face darkened, "While he thinks you're getting into trouble, we've decided to use this to our benefit. The company can benefit from Punk. We will have your proposed Summer of Punk-"

"I'm not working with him."

He sighed, leaning further back in the black leather chair, "You will be in the team that works with him, but not directly. It is your idea after all."

Zoe clutched the folder tightly, her free hand gripping the doorknob, "You sent him the belt." She said it more as a statement, rather than a question. She knew from the moment that she saw Punk holding his own customised WWE belt that something was up. That someone had sent it to him as a bribe to come back to the WWE. At Paul's nod, she shrugged, "Guess he got all his perks then? His face isn't going to be on the turnbuckles is it?"

Paul chuckled at the grimace on her face. He leaned forward, resting his clasped hands on his desk, "He got no perks. None at all." He watched in interest as her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "He just wanted to wrestle. No matter what we offered him, at the end of the day, all he asked for was the chance to wrestle in front of those people."

The dark haired woman's mouth dropped slightly at the familiar words. She remembered them all too clearly from that day she went for the job interview. She sighed, running a hand through her messy hair, "Just let me know what you need from me." She shut the door behind her, walking slowly through the corridor, her mind racing. At the end of the corridor, she spotted the man clouding her thoughts heading towards her, and presumably Paul's office. Her eyes widened as she saw John Cena come charging after him, a scowl on his face. He was beyond mad. His supposed friend had taken off after the Money in the Bank PPV without even a goodbye or anything. He hadn't contacted them in over a week, and John was fuming at the change in his long time friend.

"Brooks!"

Zoe hurried towards them, standing behind the face off between the two men. She spotted Mike and Maryse come skidding around the corner as well to see what was going on. "Guys, c'mon.."

The two men barely even acknowledged she was there. John glared pointedly at his friend, "Thanks for the surprise."

Punk's lip ring glinted in the light, "I knew you would enjoy it, Cena."

John folded his arms over his chest, "Why are you here? If you hated this place so much, then why are you back?"

Punk chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, "Boy, Johnny you really aren't the sharpest tool in the shed." He paused, glancing behind John at his friends, "Don't get me wrong. I love this place, but I just hate the people in charge." He eyed the WWE Championship on John's shoulder, "And clearly they didn't listen to me, because once again the Golden Boy is Champion again. And that's why I'm back." He smirked, "To bring about change."

"You're an asshole, Punk."

"Why?" exclaimed Punk, "Because I spoke what everyone was thinking? Give me a break, John. Look around, do you really think Mike loved being second to you at Wrestlemania? Sure, he won, but everyone was too focused on you and Dwayne."

John glanced back at the Miz, who was avoiding all eye contact with the newly crowned Champion. He turned back to face Punk, a glare on his face, "Green doesn't look good on you, Punk."

"Your lip prints don't look good on Vince's ass either, John."

"Stop it!" screeched Zoe, as she slid in between the two males. She pressed her hands against Punk's chest, pushing him backwards as John flew towards him, his arms raised. Mike jumped onto John's back, pulling his arms behind his back. Zoe turned to face John, a hand reaching behind to grab Punk's shirt to make sure he didn't make a break for it, "Cut it out the both of you!" Her face was flushed red, as she stared at John, "John, please let's go home, okay?"

John pulled his arms out of Mike's grip, and readjusted the belt thrown over his shoulder, "You're right. He's not worth it." He turned to leave and Mike and Maryse followed him down the corridor. Zoe went to follow him as well, before Punk snaked out an arm and spun her around to face him.

Zoe tore her arm out of his grip, "What, Punk?"

"I don't hate him. Tell him that."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"I chose my career over my friends. You know about that-"

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, "You gave me hell about that."

Punk rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, shit happens. But I want it both ways." Zoe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the man in front of her. He readjusted his own belt over his shoulder, "I have to go talk to Paul. Just tell Cena that ok?" Zoe had barely nodded in response to his request before he took off down the hallway towards Paul's office.

As she bent down to pick up her folder that had been dropped during the scuffle, she shook her head, muttering to herself, "What the hell is wrong with this place?"

* * *

><p>AN: Ta Da! Another quick update! Enjoy and leave pretty reviews my dears :)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Apologies for the delay in updates! I've been working non-stop and I never had time to sit down at write. Finally, I have :) Enjoy!

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><p><span>August 1, 2011<span>

Through the past couple of weeks, Zoe Winters had learnt that not everything was what it seemed at the WWE. For years, she had an idea in her head about the company. Looking back, it was childish to even think that harmony would be in such a workplace that prided itself on violence. Her time with the company had been short, but so far, the job was causing Zoe an intense headache and complete exhaustion. Besides the constant travelling, which she knew would be a factor in her exhaustion, the backstage politics was contributing to her ever-throbbing migraine. Her three days off had been beneficial, as she had rested at home and caught up on much needed sleep that she had been lacking while travelling on the road. She'd also spent the few days finalising the storyline for the Diva's Division. Creating a heel turn for Beth Phoenix was difficult, and unconsciously, Zoe found herself drawing parallels between the Divas and the Superstars. Kelly Kelly was the Diva's answer to John Cena, and with a groan, Zoe had realised that this is what Beth wanted all along. Beth knew that her involvement in the Superstar's storyline was going to benefit this angle in some way, and Zoe found herself writing a heel turn that mirrored the men's. Barbara Blank had been extremely hesitant on the development, causing much frustration for Zoe. The young Creative writer had no choice but to leave the Diva out of the loop, and just prepare the final script for Monday without her input. Beth was totally on board, and Zoe had to bite her lip from laughing at the look of glee on the Glamazon's face as she read through the outline.

Besides concentrating on the storyline for the Divas, Zoe found some time to spend with John Cena. After his heated display on Raw, Zoe was worried about him. As much as she despised Punk, she knew that John and Punk were close friends and she was not going to let John throw that away when Punk had never done any wrong to him. The problem was, Zoe was too hesitant to bring up the issue. She had been mulling over it for days, and wondered when it was the best opportunity to bring it up. As they drove to the live show in Indianapolis, Zoe chewed her lip. The show required John and Punk to do promos together, along with Paul Levesque. Word from Stephanie indicated that their conference call to rehearse had gone well, bar a few choice words on John's behalf. But nothing was stopping the nervous butterflies in Zoe's stomach. Her dark eyes glanced over at her companion, watching as one of his large hands reached over to change the radio station. Averting her gaze quickly, she realised he'd caught her watching him.

"I know you want to ask me something," said John Cena, "You've had the same look on your face for the past three days."

Zoe blushed, the red tint staining her cheeks. She sighed, biting her lip, "Punk doesn't hate you."

"Is that a fact or a question?"

"He told me so."

John glanced questioningly at her, "So now you're taking his word."

Zoe sent him a pointed look, "I'm never going to take his word." She flipped her hair to the side, "You don't need to fight my battles for me, John. He's done nothing wrong to you-"

"He's turned into a monster."

The young girl was taken aback, spluttering over her words, "A monster? John, really?"

The new WWE Champion snapped, "Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not!"

"You seem to be taking his side!"

Zoe's eyes flashed angrily, "I'm not taking his side-"

"Well you seem to be getting angry for me taking your side-"

"I don't want you to take my side!" cried Zoe, throwing her hands in the air frustrated. "This isn't your fight, John. It's over, alright? Punk hurt me, but I don't need you risking your job just to defend my honour. He's your friend, John."

John sighed, heavily, as he pulled the car into a vacant spot at the back of the arena, "But you're-"

The brunette girl held up a hand, silencing him, "I know, John. We are both part of your life but I don't want you to take sides, alright?" She grabbed her handbag from the floor, pulling it over her shoulder, "I have enough to deal with trying to keep my job, let alone worrying about the state of your job." She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling an oncoming headache, "Please, just be normal."

The WWE Champion chewed his lip, thinking over Zoe's words. The past few weeks had been hard on everyone. He noted the tired and pained expression on Zoe's face and decided to drop the issue entirely. "Fine, I'll drop it."

Zoe leaned over, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly for a moment. She pulled back, a small smile gracing her face, "Thanks Johnny. I'll be fine, I promise." She pulled away from him, and the duo hopped out of the rental car that John had and headed towards the arena. Zoe smiled, as John threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her tight to his side. "John.." She warned, a teasing tone in her voice.

His dimples were in full force, his smile lighting up his face, "I'm not taking your side. I'm just not ever leaving your side so you can get hurt again." He chuckled while Zoe pulled a gagging face, "Alright, relax, no need to continue dry retching."

Zoe laughed, ducking out from his arm, and darting forward. She waved at the Superstar, "I've got to go shake up the Diva's division, John. See you later!"

John chuckled, readjusting his bag strap over his shoulder, "Shake up the Diva's division.." He paused, his face falling, as images of Punk's rogue shoot came back, "Oh man, not again."

* * *

><p>"Oh Kelly, your days as the perky, cute, blonde little bimbo are officially over."<p>

John Cena's suspicions were confirmed. Shit had hit the fan again. Beth Phoenix had just won the Diva Battle Royal to become the number one contender for Kelly Kelly's title. While Kelly had come to the ring to congratulate the Diva, all had seemed alright. Until, Beth lashed out, throwing the smaller Diva out of the ring, and then against the barricade. This was exactly not what he wanted to see, and he needed to find Zoe fast to see if she knew about this, because the look on Kelly's face was almost too believable for her to act.

"It's about fucking time."

The snarl startled John, and he spun around to find Melina standing next to him, her arms folded over her chest, a scowl marring her features. "What?"

Melina raised a dark eyebrow, the scowl still curling her lips, "It's about time we got some decent action." She paused, her lips pursing, "It's a bit late for us now."

John blinked, "What are you talking about?"

"The Golden boy hasn't heard?" His glare only made her smirk more, "I'm going to be released on Friday. So's Gail." Her dark eyes turned to stare at John, "You have no idea what it's like, do you?"

The Champion clenched his jaw, "Don't you start too.."

Melina raised an eyebrow, "Oh trust me, when Punk dropped that pipebomb, it had already started. He just made the entire world know. And maybe he made you realise too." She glanced at his title belt, a look of disgust on her face, "Clearly they didn't listen to him. But they will. Your girl Zoe listened, as much as she hates Punk now. She did make a change." She watched as John looked confused at the screen replaying Beth attacking Kelly Kelly, "You thought that was all Beth." Her laugh rang out in the empty monitor bay, "Oh honey, Zoe made that all happen. She's going to make the real Divas relevant again."

"Why are you making her do this?"

The dark haired former Diva's champion scoffed, "We're not making her do anything. She's seen it first hand what goes on around here, and it's about time things started to change."

"She's just one person."

The woman threw her arms in the air, frustrated, "Seriously, John! Do you think we are going to let her take the fall? We got her back. Things are going to change, and I can guarantee you they will listen to us." She peered over his shoulder as Beth came backstage and beamed. "Excuse me, I have to go congratulate my favourite Glamazon. ELIZABETH!" John watched as the brunette tackled the blonde Diva. Natalya and Gail Kim were also present, as they took turns to congratulate the Glamazon. He spotted Barbara making her way backstage, and Eve Torres rushed towards her, slinging Kelly's arm over her shoulder to help her walk.

"How could you?" John realised Zoe had made herself present by hugging Beth. The Diva known as Kelly Kelly was livid as she yelled at the Creative writer once again, "How could you do this?"

Zoe looked confused, "Do what?"

Barbara pulled her arm tighter around Eve to stand straight against her side, "Attack me like this."

The Creative writer took a step forward towards her friend, "Barb, it's just a part of the show. I'm sorry if Beth was a little-"

"I'm not."

Zoe shot an amused glare at the Glamazon, before turning back to Barbara, "She may have been a little rough, but c'mon even you have to admit that this is making your division interesting again."

The Diva's champion frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

She stumbled over her next few words, unsure of how to tell the bruised woman in front of her that she was a boring Champion. Plastering a smile on her face, "More interesting feuds."

"By having Beth attack me?"

"It will keep you on your toes. Maybe we will get a few good matches with you..." As soon as Zoe had said those words, she regretted it. Barbara Blank's face dropped into a glare. Behind her, Zoe could hear the giggles of the more experienced Divas. Her teeth chewed her lip nervously, and she stumbled again over her next few words, "I didn't mean-"

Barbara shook her head, "Yes you did." She sighed, shaking her head again disappointed, "You seem to really think you can change this company even though it's been working fine before you came along."

"Working fine?" cried Zoe, incredulously, "The fans don't want the same boring crap shoved down their throats. They want something different. And if that means having new Champions, and.." She trailed off, before realising there was no holding back now, "And decent matches between actual women WRESTLERS, then yes of course I'm going to push for that."

"You're a writer, not a wrestler," snapped Barbara, "What the hell do you know?"

Zoe didn't know what possessed her to snap back at Kelly Kelly. Maybe it was the exhaustion. Or the stress. Or maybe she was finally just speaking her mind, but as she roared back at the Diva's Champion, she knew that she was in too deep now to stop. "I'm a fan, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to speak on other fan's behalf. We sure as hell don't want to see you wrestle for much longer." She paused, "If you can even call it that."

The upset and angry look on Kelly Kelly's face made Zoe stop and rethink what she said. It was too late now. She knew she had offended the young woman, but Zoe knew she was right. The two Divas before her, didn't say anything in response, and instead Eve directed Kelly Kelly to turn around, so they could head to the Medics' room to check on Barbara's condition. As they walked away, a sick feeling rose in Zoe's stomach. She was facilitating Punk's movement for change and she hadn't really realised it. But as the memory of Punk showing her those papers resurfaced, she knew that as a fan, she had to do what they, and what she, would want to see. Friends aside, it was her career on the line. But what concerned her, was that Eve Torres said absolutely nothing to either defend Barb. She'd remained quiet through the entire exchange, and Zoe wondered if Eve even knew where she would stand in this new divide in the Diva's division. She could hear footsteps approach her from behind, and her eyes glanced at John over her shoulder.

"Do you think what I'm doing is wrong?"

"If you believe it's right, then do it."

There was a pause, before Zoe sighed, "John, you're not going to win at Summerslam."

His eyebrow arched, readjusting the Championship belt on his shoulder, "Why not?"

"I don't believe it's right."

* * *

><p><span>August 8, 2011<span>

"I have to specially order in a referee's shirt to fit my giant oaf of a husband."

Zoe Winters snorted into her coffee mug, as she sat opposite Stephanie McMahon-Levesque in the meeting room at the next Raw. The show was going to feature a contract signing between John Cena and CM Punk. It had just been recently announced that Triple H would be the special guest referee. And much to Zoe's amusement, Paul Levesque had tried on every single referee's shirt and gotten his head stuck in the neck hole on every single one. She didn't 100% agree with the idea that Triple H would be the special guest referee as it was already causing the Internet Wrestling Community to speculate on whose side Trips would take. But due to his new on-screen role as COO, the rest of the Creative team thought it would be best to keep him in the main storylines and to keep him relevant.

"You rang?"

The drawl resounded through the meeting room, as CM Punk strolled in. Zoe glanced up at him, before returning her attention to her paperwork in front of her. Stephanie gestured towards an empty seat, and the WWE Champion threw himself unglamourously into the empty spot. Zoe knew he was staring at her, and she forced herself to not roll her eyes at him. The door opened for a second time and the rest of the Creative team that were working on the CM Punk/John Cena storyline strolled through, with the other WWE Champion bringing up the rear end of the line. As he planted himself in the seat next to Punk, John Cena avoided all eye contact with his friend. Zoe debated whether or not now was the appropriate time to roll her eyes at the duo. Ever since she had berated John the week before, he had done nothing to approach CM Punk, and she realised asking him again would be fruitless and she would have to wait for the perfect opportunity. She shuffled through her papers before turning her attention to Stephanie, who had started the meeting.

"Tonight will be the contract signing as you know," started Stephanie, "I assume you've gone through your scripts and learnt everything. We have given you some creative input.." She eyed Punk with a look of distaste, "To a certain extent. Try to make this PG still, alright?" The McMahon daughter continued, "John Lauriniatis will also be appearing in the ring with my husband-"

Phil Brooks didn't even bother to contain the snort that left his mouth, "Oh god."

Jake Ritter, the new team leader for this storyline, spoke up, "Excuse me?"

The WWE Champion's lip ring glinted in the light of the room, a smirk forming on his lips, "Well now you're just teasing me with having John boy out there, plus my own creative input into this promo."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Your contract is still in the 30 days negotiation period, Brooks. Try to control yourself."

He placed a hand on his chest, a mock innocent look on his face, "Me? C'mon Stephanie, you know its Cena over here who you should be warning."

John clenched his jaw, his eyes finally glancing over at his friend, "If you continue to run your mouth, I can guarantee I will hit you like the other week."

Punk pointed at John, an accusing look on his face, "Do you see the conditions I work in?"

"Would you two cut it out?" snapped Zoe. The two Champions spun their heads to face her, and everyone's eyes were on her, as she scowled at the men in front of her, "I don't think you two realise how hyped up your feud is. Your match at Money in the Bank is currently being voted as a 5-star match by Dave Meltzer. Your feud is the most talked about on the internet. If you fuck this up, you're going back to the mid card, and you Johnny are going back to feuding in the badly-received feud with R-Truth." Her eyes glanced between the two, "Now do we want that?"

Stephanie McMahon-Levesque sat back in her leather chair, and watched in interest at the anger between the three people seated before her. She noticed the two Champions glance to her for confirmation, and she nodded, a smirk curling her lips, "Trust me, boys. I can make main-eventers in minutes if you're not up for it."

By the end of the meeting, Zoe was already feeling exhausted. Her eyes were struggling to keep open. She knew she needed a nap before the show started so she could get her energy levels back up. The Creative team had just departed, and Stephanie had quickly run out of the room to get to another meeting with her father and husband. Zoe collected her papers, before she realised another person remained in the room.

"What?" She sighed, her hand on her hip, tired.

CM Punk's lip quirked slightly, "Grew a set of balls, did you?"

Rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time since that meeting started, Zoe pushed past him and headed out into the corridor. The brunette should've known better when she heard footsteps behind her. "Can I help you?" She called over her shoulder.

Punk reached out an arm to grip her elbow tightly and spin her around, "Heard about what you said to Barb."

"And?"

He folded his arms over his chest, a shit-eatting grin now forming on his face, "So you listened to me?"

Zoe tossed her hair to the side, stepping back from him, "I did listen, you idiot. I just wanted to keep my job."

"And now?"

"And now?" She paused, not knowing exactly when and where it had all changed, "Now, I want the fans to be happy. I want the most talked about storyline."

He chuckled, "Is now the time to say I told you so?"

She couldn't help the small smirk that danced on her lips. Shaking her head, a small chuckle escaping her lips, Zoe spun around and headed down the corridor, "Just give it a bit more time." She called over her shoulder, leaving the older man standing in the corridor.

Phil shook his head, a triumphant smile on his face. This is exactly what he wanted. If he played it right tonight, chances were he would be walking out Champion at Summerslam. He spun around to head to his locker room, before he came face to face with the other Champion.

"Yes, John?"

John Cena sighed, reaching out a hand to the tattooed man. At his companion's raised eyebrow, he shrugged, "You know what we have to do."

CM Punk extended his hand to shake John's, "I don't hate you John. I just hate the pedastel you've been put on."

"Trust me, I'm starting to understand it all now. And why the fans boo me. I think it's time, shit around here starts changing." He eyed the script in Punk's hand, "Want to go put in our own creative input?"

The tattooed Champion could barely contain the smirk that plastered onto his face, "I've created a monster."

John rolled his eyes, turning to head down the hallway with Punk by his side, "C'mon man, let's go risk our jobs."

The look of glee on Punk's face unnerved John a little, "It's much more fun than people make it out to be."

"Don't make me start regretting this already."

* * *

><p><span>August 14, 2011<span>

The contract signing between John Cena and CM Punk had been a rating's success. Much to Zoe's horror and amusement, John and Phil had changed their lines in the script and included quips about the Black Friday dismissals and the IWC. Thankfully, the blame wasn't being put on her this time, and rather Jake Ritter was coping the blame much to her delight. Summerslam was currently underway, and Zoe was anxious to see how the crowd would react to CM Punk winning the title cleanly off John Cena. The two had agreed to it, and the booking of the match was made. Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly had also been booked, with the Glamazon also booked to win the Diva's Championship off the former Extreme Expose girl. Zoe Winters was comfortably seated in the monitor bay, watching as the show unfolded and she smiled as Beth Phoenix put Kelly Kelly up for the Glam Slam. But what transpired next made her stomach drop.

Kelly Kelly didn't go face first into the mat. Instead, she rolled forward, flipping her and Beth to counteract the move, and pin Beth for the win, thus retaining her title.

"Oh my fucking god."

She didn't even bother to watch the rest. She saw the look of devastation on the face of her friend, and Zoe jumped out of her seat, her heels clicking against the concrete floor as she darted towards Paul Levesque's office. While she skidded around a corner, a production assistant called out to her, waving a script in his hand.

"What!" She snapped, irritably at the young assistant.

The assistant looked taken aback before handing over the papers, "Last minute changes."

As the assistant darted off, Zoe stared at the copy in her hands, "But the show has started.." Her thought trailed off, as she flicked through the papers, her eyes scanning for the Diva's match. There, at the bottom of the page, was the booking. To her horror, it had been changed to Kelly Kelly. Her heart started to beat frantically, and her mouth became dry. She continued to flick through the pages, her eyes now searching for John's match. And that's when she kicked off her shoes, and ran. The dark haired Creative writer didn't even bother knocking before she pushed open Paul Levesque's door to find the former Champion in there, all dressed in his referee's gear.

Gasps escaped her as she stumbled to put her shoes back on, "What the hell?"

Paul turned to her, his eyes leaving the television monitor in his office, "Miss Winters.."

Her hand flicked out to throw the script on his desk, "Was there a point to hiring writers? Because you all seem to be chopping and changing the storylines without any of us knowing."

The long haired man sighed, leaning back against his desk, "I can assure you, your job is important." He glanced at the television, as they replayed Kelly's victory, "Some last minute changes had to be made."

Zoe's face changed into a scowl, "That!" She hissed, pointing at the script that lay strewn across his desk, "Is not some last minute changes you can make without anyone knowing. That is screwing people around."

"It's what's best for the company."

"With all due respect, Sir, I'm sick to death of hearing that phrase. You go on and on about what's best for this company, but you're forgetting the most important thing that makes this company. And that's the fans. You're so wrapped up in the ratings. In the publicity. That you fail to see that you've completely dropped the ball on this storyline. You've got no idea what they want, do you?"

"You've crossed the line."

"What can I say? I'm a habitual line crosser." She shook her head at him, feeling breathless and anxious, "Thank you for this opportunity, Sir, but I just can't do this anymore if there's no trust around here. I'll hand in my letter in the morning."

* * *

><p>"ZOE GODDAMN WINTERS, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!"<p>

The roar echoed through the backstage area of the Summerslam PPV. Wrestlers were gathered in the monitor bay, and all watched with wide eyes as CM Punk stormed through from the gorilla area, angry as hell. His eyes darted everywhere, searching for the young Creative writer. He clenched his jaw, facing his coworkers, "Has anyone seen Zoe?" His eyes connected with a group of Divas, lounging in the chairs in the monitor bay. Glaring angrily, he stormed towards them, his body still gleaming with sweat, "Where the fuck is she, Torres?"

"I don't know.." whispered Eve, biting her lip nervously.

"Don't lie to me, Torres. I can see right through your bullshit- HEY!" A strong pair of arms pushed him backwards, and he stumbled for a second, before standing upright. He glared at the woman in front of him, and clenched his jaw tighter, "Beth, what the fuck."

The Glamazon glared at her former boyfriend, standing toe to toe with the wrestler, "Back off, Phil."

"Where's Zoe?"

Beth's lips curled into a smirk, "Oh it's not nice when surprises happen to you, Punk. Not nice when you get screwed over.."

"I didn't see you win anything either, Elizabeth."

With her tongue pushed into her cheek, Beth Phoenix shook her head at the man before her. It was true. She had also been screwed over, but she knew that complaining would make her lose a possible opportunity to gain the title again, "It's not always about winning, Phil.."

"It has everything to do with it." He spun away from his ex-girlfriend. He didn't want to see the disappointed look in her eyes. Right now, he didn't care what anyone thought about him. All CM Punk wanted to do was find Zoe Winters and find out why she screwed him over with none other than Kevin Nash. "ZOE!" He roared, storming his way towards the locker rooms.

"Punk!" An arm reached out and spun the Superstar around, "She's gone.."

Punk pushed John Cena off of him, "Don't you touch me, John! Where is she?"

"She's gone!"

His hazel eyes stared angrily, "Don't play dumb with me, Cena. You know exactly where she's gone. You can't protect her forever, Cena. I want goddamn answers as to why the fuck she did this!"

John ran a hand through his short hair. Not even he could believe what had happened, but he was trying to believe so hard that Zoe had nothing to do with it. As he had returned from the ring to the monitor bay, the girls had informed him that she'd packed up her belongings and left, "She didn't do this, Punk."

His harsh chuckle echoed down the hallway, "Oh no. Her one chance to get back at me and you didn't think she'd take it. C'mon John, you and I both know she had another thing going. I knew I shouldn't have believed her!" It was true. Punk had thought Zoe was finally coming around on his ideas that he had. But clearly, from the display tonight, she was still on board with the suits that ran this place.

John lunged forward, pushing Punk against the wall, angrily, "You shut the hell up right now!" He pointed his finger in Punk's face, his face red with anger. "You have no idea what they put her through! What you put her through! Don't you dare pin this on her because she's been trying to help you this whole time-"

"Oh yeah!" yelled Punk, "Then why did Big Sexy come storming the ring to screw me over?"

"I don't know!"

Punk scoffed, "Where is she, John?"

John clenched his jaw, "Punk, just leave her alone. I swear to you she didn't do this.."

"All I wanted was one fucking chance, John." He dragged a hand angrily through his hair, "I just wanted to be one of the top guys. I wanted to goddamn wrestle and for people to care. Instead, I get Big Fucking Sexy botching a powerbomb and screwing me over." He kicked a chair nearby, "Why can't I be on your fucking pedestal, John? Have I not worked my ass off?"

The Boston native watched his friend's face crumble, and he sighed, "Punk.."

The tattooed wrestler held up a hand, silencing his friend, "Don't. I get it now." He shrugged his shoulders, a dry chuckle escaping his lips, "It was worth a try, wasn't it." He rubbed at his sore neck, feeling the after effects of the worst powerbomb by Kevin Nash. "Hello midcard, here I come."

"At least we had a 5-star match."

Punk's lips quirked as he glanced at his friend, "Yeah, we did." He headed down the corridor, his hand still rubbing his neck. At least they had that, and a possible feud of the year. But all on his mind right now was what the hell was going on in this company, and where the hell did Zoe Winters go.

* * *

><p>AN: Reviewwwwwwwwwww :)


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews :) sorry for the delay again! Enjoy :)

* * *

><p><span>August 15, 2011<span>

As if there wasn't enough scandal in the WWE already, the sudden departure of their new promising writer Zoe Winters was causing a few waves backstage. The apparent screw job on both the storylines she was in charge of raised enough suspicion backstage. But her insistence to be involved in these angles to change the face of the WWE confused everyone as to what really happened that night at Summerslam. The Diva known as Beth Phoenix had adamantly stated that Zoe was not a part of the screw jobs, and decided that if she kept her mouth shut, then she'd be able to get another shot at the title. On the other hand, CM Punk had almost given up on looking for glory at the WWE. Clearly, someone did not want him to be champion. Whether that was Vince, Zoe, Paul or Stephanie, he couldn't care less who. He wanted to know why. Why after all his years of working his way up from the indies, did that not seem good enough for the brass at the WWE. And at that moment, he wasn't even bothering hiding the anger on his face as he sat through another creative meeting with some other Superstars.

Nor did he bother hiding the annoyed drawl when it was announced he'd be entering a feud with Kevin Nash, "Oh joy."

Jake Ritter raised an eyebrow at the Superstar slouched in his seat, "I'm sorry, what?"

Punk snorted, "You should be sorry. You geniuses have no imagination between any of you, and decide that to continue the hype I created in the summer, you choose to have me feuding with a geriatric."

"It's what's best for the company right now-"

"So help me god, if I hear someone say that one more time, I'm going to start drinking."

John Cena couldn't resist snorting at the remark. Clearing his throat, he leaned back in his seat and looked at the Creative team before him, "Why is he not in the title picture? He won Summerslam and now I'm getting my rematch instead of him?"

Punk noted the uneasy look that crossed Jake Ritter's face as he glanced around the room for a little help in answering John, "Hey, don't look around. Stephanie is not here to save your ass. So try to remember you have a set of balls and answer the man."

Jake clenched his jaw, avoiding the angry glare being sent to him by Punk, "The company wants this. Plus we will be in Mexico in a few weeks and we'd like Alberto to be Champion while we are there."

CM Punk and John Cena shared an amused look, "You think Mexicans don't like me?"

"I think Mexicans would like you, Punk."

"Rey Mysterio likes me. So why can't I be Champion in Mexico?"

"Wait a minute, we're not going to Mexico till October."

"Berto is going to be Champion until then?"

"This doesn't sound right."

Punk smirked at his friend, "Of course it doesn't, John." His face fell, and a stony glare formed on his face as he turned his attention back to the Creative team, "That is a load of bullshit. Explain to us both what the hell is going on. And by the way, where is Stephanie? I didn't think you guys were allowed to make decisions without her around."

Jake cleared his throat, "We've been given more creative control."

Punk raised an eyebrow, "That actually worries me. Because look what happened when you gave Zoe Winters creative control.. Don't look at me like that, John. I'm serious. You and I both know something is up around here."

John Cena sighed. He was starting to reluctantly agree with his friend. Something had happened the night before at Summerslam, and he'd been trying all day to call the young Creative writer, however her phone was switched off. There was no explanation as to why she took off, and no explanation as to why two Championship matches were rebooked halfway through the show. He scratched his head, chewing his lip, "Just explain to us what's happening, Ritter."

"You'll be entering a feud with Alberto Del Rio, and Mr Brooks will be entering one with Kevin Nash." He paused, handing them both scripts for tonight's show. "If it makes you feel any better Phil, you've been allowed to have creative input into your promo with Kevin Nash tonight."

"No, that doesn't make me feel any better, and you haven't answered our goddamn questions. Why the hell did last night happen and why the hell am I being used to make Big Sexy relevant again?"

The Creative team all stood up, and Jake shuffled his papers in his hands, "We have other Superstars to attend too. Have a good show tonight guys."

Punk lunged across the table at him, before John gripped his arms and pulled him back, "C'mon man, let's go." Punk shrugged his friend off of him and stormed out of the meeting room. John sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

><p><span>August 29, 2011<span>

Zoe Winters had spent the past three weeks hiding in her apartment in Boston. Her family thought she was still on the road. She preferred it that way until she figured out what on earth she was going to do now that she'd given up the best opportunity she'd been given. The experience with the WWE had left a bad memory with her love of writing, and she decided that she'd return to her old job in a bar down the road from her apartment to take her mind off of it all. That didn't mean she wasn't watching the show every Monday. For the past three Mondays since Summerslam, she'd watched the show and the fallout due to Summerslam. The young brunette didn't have to be a genius to work out that her friends were not happy. Beth was still not champion. Punk was feuding with Kevin Nash. And John was being booed for being the face to Alberto Del Rio's heel. Monday Night Raw had just ended and to her surprise, Punk's match with Kevin Nash at Night of Champions was being changed to one against Triple H. She inwardly groaned. As if the Straight-Edge Superstar wasn't a ticking time bomb already, he was now being used to reignite the careers of two of the WWE's finest and she knew he wasn't going to be taking this well. And by the look on his face as it was announced, he had no previous knowledge to the change.

Pushing herself up from the couch, she made her way into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat. As she poured herself a drink, her phone rang and she moved to go see the caller id. For the past few weeks, her friends had been calling her and messaging her numerous times, wondering where on earth she was. Not once had she picked up. The current caller id was unknown, and she knew that it might be her mother. So as to not raise any suspicion with the older woman, Zoe sighed, and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"So you are alive."

The gruff deep voice made Zoe stop, her eyes wide, "Punk.."

He chuckled, "The beauty of making your caller id private. I don't understand why I didn't think of this earlier." He paused, "How have you been, Zoe? We've been worried sick about you over here."

Zoe wasn't stupid. She knew that tone all too well, "What do you want, Punk?"

"I want to know what the hell your problem is!"

Zoe clenched her jaw, trying not to snap at the man on the phone, "I didn't know that they were going to change the bookings-"

"Like hell you didn't!" roared Punk.

"I swear to you!" cried Zoe, "I had no idea that they were going to do that-"

"You don't keep the lead Creative out of the loop-"

"Are you going to let me explain, Punk?"

"No, just shut your mouth for a second Zoe!" The roar echoed through the phone, and Zoe held it away from her ear for a moment. Her heart dropped, and she leaned back against the counter, stunned into silence, "You just shut up and listen to me. I don't believe for one second that you didn't know. I thought you were going to be a part of this change. Do you understand how many of us were believing that this would change the landscape of the WWE?" He chuckled darkly, "But I guess you cracked, didn't you-"

Zoe tried to stop him, "Punk..."

"I'm still speaking," snapped the Straight-Edge Superstar. "You, just like every other suit here, have their goddamn balls in the McMahon's purse. You thought I was selfish these past few months? What you did was just as selfish. You did exactly what they wanted. And the fact that you took off made it worse. No one is going to believe you now, Winters. Not one person." He paused, "You're just like the suits. You're too scared to change things up. When all else fails, you go back to the old formula. For god's sake, you even brought back Kevin Nash." He paused again, sighing, "And you screwed the Divas over too! Beth hasn't worked her ass off enough for you? What more do we have to do for you people to notice us?"

Zoe's breath hitched at the anguish in Punk's voice. She slid down the kitchen cupboards, curling up on the floor, "We did notice-"

Punk stopped her again, "No, no you didn't!" His voice dropped quietly, "What more do we have to do, Zo'? I just wanted a chance to be that top guy!" He paused again, and Zoe could hear other voices in the background. It dawned on her that he was still in the arena after Raw had ended, "I'm going to be that top guy Zoe. I never should've asked for your help. Because from the moment I did, you haven't helped me one bit. You made this mess and now I've got to work twice as hard to get the hell out of it. Have a nice life, Winters."

The phone clicked off, and the dial tone filled Zoe's ears. Covering her mouth with her hand, she tried to stifle the sob that was threatening to escape her. A knock at the door startled her, and she jumped up off the ground, moving to answer the door.

"Mom?"

Lisa Winters raised an eyebrow at her daughter, her arms folded over her chest, "Three weeks before I find out you've come home and I had to find out from a phone call."

Zoe wiped a tear from her eye, "Let me guess, John?"

"There's a reason he's my favourite," quipped Lisa. She noted her daughter's upset face, and sighed, "Oh sweetheart, what happened?"

"How much time do you have?"

Lisa moved to wrap an arm around her daughter's shoulders, "I have all the time in the world. Besides, your father is already passed out in front of the television at home, so I'm good for a few hours." She moved her towards the couch, "Now why aren't you at work?"

* * *

><p><span>September 19, 2011<span>

It was odd to find Superstars and Divas on edge at a Pay-Per-View. While all of them had been directed as to what would be happening on the show, they all knew in the back of their minds that the pieces of paper in their hands meant nothing at all. Considering the past two PPVs had been out of control, they were all walking on eggshells, unsure of which matches were going to be screwed with tonight. So far everything was going according to plan. Not that everyone was happy with it but. Beth Phoenix had been booked to lose in her hometown of Buffalo, New York, and to say she was upset was an understatement. She didn't utter one word to anyone backstage as she stormed through the gorilla area after her match. The withering look she sent Barbara Blank's way said it all. Once again, she was being put aside to let the model have the spotlight. Even the crowd had started a "Kelly Sucks" chant. And not to anyone else's surprise, John Cena had taken the belt from Alberto Del Rio for a short stint before Alberto was to get it back at the next PPV.

"Mizanin, Killings.." Paul Levesque shot them both a wary look, "What are you two doing here?"

The duo known as the Awesome Truth smirked at the COO of the WWE, before shooting a glance at CM Punk. The Straight-Edge Superstar folded his arms across his chest, his lip ring glinting in the dim light of the gorilla area, "Getting ready for their spot."

Paul furrowed his brow, "They are not in our match.." He trailed off before a stern look crossed his face, "Brooks what have you done?"

CM Punk smirked at Triple H, "Oh don't worry, Paul, you're still going to win. I'm not one for screw jobs, that's more you and your wife's little play. I'm just adding some excitement to this conspiracy running around here."

A look of guilt crossed the Cerebral Assassin's face for a moment, and Punk furrowed his brow slightly at the look. Paul sighed, running a hand through his hair, "You have no idea."

"Then explain it to me, Paul. You seem to have everyone else on board except half your wrestlers."

Punk's music hit before Paul could get a word out, "I can't." The Straight-Edge Superstar shook his head, disappointed in the older man, and he headed out to the cheers of the crowd. Paul glanced at the pairing of Awesome Truth. He only hoped to God that they would be the only interruption to their match tonight.

But he was wrong.

* * *

><p>"For once, I would really like my match to go according to the FUCKING BOOKING SHEET!"<p>

Anarchy had officially erupted during the main event of the PPV. CM Punk and Triple H had been booked for a clean win by Triple H, despite the last minute addition of the Miz and R-Truth attacking them during the match. What no one had counted on, was Kevin Nash making his way through the crowd to attack the two wrestlers. As Punk and Paul Levesque made their way backstage, a group of the Superstars and Divas awaited them in the backstage area.

"Was winning cleanly not satisfactory for you?"

Paul spun around and pushed Punk backwards, his face red with anger, "I had no idea he was going to do that."

"No one has any idea around here anymore!" yelled Punk, lunging forward. A pair of arms wrapped around his chest, and he growled, struggling to move out of the grip. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Mike holding him back, while John had Paul restrained. "Get off me!"

Mike held his arms tighter, "Shit, Phil, just calm down!"

Paul struggled against John, "Cena, let go of me. This is between me and Punk."

"Like hell it is." Maryse stepped in between the two men, her arms crossed across her chest, "It is between you and all of us." She pursed her lips, cocking her hip out, a slim eyebrow raised at the COO, "We are not stupid, Paul. We know something is going on here, and you're a smart man. You're going to explain why all of a sudden everything is spiralling out of control."

Paul Levesque shook his head, "Everything is fine."

A smirk formed on Maryse's face, "Liar." She waved her hand and Beth, Natalya and Eve moved to stand by her, "Remember us? We are your Diva division. If you don't answer us, we are going to stop fulfilling our duties as WWE Divas. We are going to stop coming to shows. We aren't going to do signings. We aren't doing endorsements. But what we are doing is going to talk to anyone who will listen and we will tell them exactly what goes on around here, especially the treatment of our division, and you know how people get about women being treated wrong." Her smirk broadened at the panicked look on Paul's face, "Alors, it won't be as bad as what the boys have planned for you if you don't speak."

"Are you threatening me, Ms. Ouellet?"

She snorted, "Like I care, Paul. I'm being released in a month's time." She feigned a look of surprise, "Mais non, I wasn't supposed to say anything!" Her smirk returned, "Now, talk."

Paul Levesque sighed. Right now, he had an angry group of Superstars and Divas in front of him. As he glanced at all of them, his heart sank, and guilt filled his stomach. At one point of his career, he had been these wrestlers. He had been the one seeking answers when he wasn't getting the right push. He couldn't deny that if he were them right now, he'd be doing the same thing. Chewing his lip, he struggled against Cena, "Just let me go first."

John released his grip, pushing the COO slightly in the back, "Now hurry up."

Running a hand through his dishevelled hair, the COO sighed tiredly again, "The WWE Network is taking priority with Vince and the executives. So the board of directors have appointed someone to make the decisions here on Raw and Smackdown for them, while they work on the Network." He glanced at the unimpressed wrestlers in front of him, "I had no idea about tonight. You have my word. Steph's lost control of the Creative division. The representative of the board of directors has been calling all the shots, and for some reason, he's gotten into the ear of the Creative and Booking team members. Steph is all for fairness and voting. She can't make decisions when she's a vote out."

Punk snorted, "Like I'm supposed to believe you weren't in on Kevin Nash's return."

"You're forgetting he attacked me too," snapped Paul. He raised his hand to run it through his hair again, "I did you a favour, Punk, by taking over this feud. I called in a few favours and got Nash to do some tests with the medic team. He wasn't cleared to wrestle, so I took over." The older man sighed, "I didn't believe you were Champion material. But fans are reacting badly to you not being Champion. Your merchandise sales are now number one. I regret screwing you over that night."

The former WWE Champion's head snapped up, and he raised an eyebrow at the COO, "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry for screwing you over that night."

John Cena realised what had happened. His eyes met Punk's and he saw the regret flick through them. His stomach sunk, "Punk, what did you do?"

"I thought it was Zoe," spoke Punk, quietly.

Paul shook his head, "I listened to the wrong people. I didn't go with my gut. You should be champion, Punk, and so should you, Beth. It's time things started changing around here. I just think it's a little too late now."

Punk's face changed into a scowl, "You're damn right it's too late." He shook his head angrily, "I can't do this right now." He pushed past his friends and headed for the locker rooms. His mind was racing with everything that had just happened. He knew there was some sort of conspiracy against him, but he had no idea that it ran deeper into the executives. He couldn't completely understand why they were out to ruin his career. As he pulled his bag over his shoulder, he gripped his phone tightly in one hand. Punk knew he had a phonecall to make.

But first, he needed more answers.

* * *

><p>AN: Reviewwwwwwwwwww :) and next chapter, the man hunt for Zoe Winters begins!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, and all the other alerts and favourites! Special thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: SandraSmit19, StephNexus, MarryTheNight25, LeylaChaz, loganthesexybeast, Miserlou, charmedbyortonbarrett and matt-hardy-lover-101.

* * *

><p><span>October 2, 2011<span>

The next scheduled PPV for the WWE was Hell in a Cell. Just like at Night of Champions, the Superstars and Divas were on edge wondering what could transpire through the night. Over the past two weeks, since the fall out of Night of Champions, the Creative team had written the shows to involve chaos. First, the Miz and R-Truth were fired by Triple H after their involvement in the main event of Night of Champions. Then the next week on Raw, Del Rio lost his cool, beating up Punk and John while all three men were trapped in a cell. Tonight, in the New Orleans Arena, chaos was sure to erupt, scripted or unscripted. Beth Phoenix was scheduled for a title match against Kelly Kelly, while John Cena, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio were the main event of the evening. It was an hour before show time, and all the Superstars and Divas were gathered in their respective dressing rooms, preparing for the night.

Phil Brooks didn't even bother raising an eyebrow as Mike Mizanin came barrelling through his locker room door, an hour before the start of Hell in a Cell. Behind him, the wrestler known as R-Truth, came running in after him, both sporting grins on their faces. Punk glanced at John, who looked less than amused.

"Aren't you two fired?"

Mike grinned, gesturing to the door, as it swung open and Paul Levesque moved quickly inside, slamming the door behind him. John and Punk stood up, their eyebrows raised now at the new addition to their locker room. Paul stepped forward, dressed in his suit, "I have a plan."

Punk groaned, throwing the outline for the PPV behind his shoulder, "I don't know why you bother with these booking sheets."

Paul lifted his hand to undo the tie slightly around his neck, "Shut up and listen. We need to throw the angle way out there, but at the same time, play it right into the hands of the board of directors."

John Cena blinked, before rubbing a hand over his face, groaning, "I'm getting too old for this."

Paul resisted the urge to smirk at his fellow wrestler, "Look. The booking stays the same. Alberto Del Rio will still win the match, but resident psychos over here will crash your match after and all hell will break loose." At Punk and John's blank stares, he rolled his eyes, "Seriously, even these two got it quicker than you guys!"

Mike looked appalled for a second, "HEY!"

Paul waved his hand, dismissively, "If you haven't noticed, the creative team are working the angle that someone is out to get my job. Unfortunately, this is the real case. The board of directors appointed Laurainitis as their representative, and I'm pretty sure he's pulling the strings back here to get ahead of everyone." He sighed, running a hand through his long hair, "I need to be fired."

John Cena and CM Punk stared at their fellow wrestler. The two exchanged glances with each other. It was finally dawning on them what exactly needed to be done. Punk sighed, folding his arms over his chest, "When did this show stop being 100% scripted?"

"June 27th 2011," snapped Paul. He looked around at the men in the room, "I get what you guys want. I know exactly how you're all feeling. This system that the WWE has built itself on is not fair. John, you're just as bad as I was over a decade ago. We can't keep shoving the same things down people's throats. We need new champions. We need new talent being showcased and the only way we are going to do it, is if we do it ourselves."

John nodded, "But what is firing you going to achieve?"

"I need to get offscreen for a while. I need to go back to my backstage duties, which means less time with the talent. Instead, it means more time focusing on what's going on behind the scenes. I'll work out exactly how things are going down, and change it from there." He rolled up his sleeves, "Now ladies, if we could all get back to work, hopefully we can do this."

As the COO turned to leave the room, Punk called out, "Beth is booked to win tonight." He paused, stepping towards the retreating form of Paul Levesque, "No way, they've changed their tune already."

Paul turned to them, a grimace on his face, "She's being booked weak. She loses it at Vengeance." At Punk's scowl, he held up his hands, "I tried. You have to understand I did. I'm sorry. This is why I need to be out of the picture. John wants to take over, fine. Just make sure there's enough chaos for him to think that me being fired onscreen will help his cause."

He left the room, and Punk, with a scowl still on his face, turned to the tag team of Awesome Truth. "You guys better do this right."

R-Truth and the Miz exchanged smirks, and grabbed their bags from the locker room floor. Punk and John shared smirks as the duo pulled out steel pipes from their bags, holding them out proudly.

"Oh we will."

* * *

><p>"Congratulations on the win!"<p>

Beth Phoenix smiled, pressing the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she packed her bag after the Hell in a Cell PPV. "Thanks, Zo'. Glad to know you're alive by the way."

Zoe chewed her lip, curling up into her couch at home. She had moved back in with her parents for a bit, at her mother's insistence. She had just finished watching the PPV, and was surprised to see Beth Phoenix beat Kelly Kelly for the title. Albeit, with a little help from Natalya. It had been two months since she had spoken to anyone from the WWE, apart from the phone call from Punk. After watching Beth win the title, she had impulsively called the older woman to congratulate her, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

Beth sighed, readjusting the phone in her hand as she swung her bag over her shoulder, "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"You think things have really changed?" Beth made her way out into the corridor of the arena, "Nothing's changed."

Zoe furrowed her brow, "But you won?"

"Natalya helped me," snapped Beth. She wasn't too pleased with the fact that she had been booked to win like that. She wanted a clean win. But instead, she chose to bite her tongue and just take the title reign. But what hurt the most was that she knew she was being booked tomorrow night to be taken down by the Diva Kelly Kelly during a match. "I'm being booked as a weak champion. Tomorrow night, Barb has free reign to go nuts on me. I'm getting thrown into an announce table by Psycho Barbie."

Zoe closed her eyes, guilty. If only she hadn't have left. "Beth, what could I do.."

"You could've stayed-"

"Who believed me?"

"I did!" cried Beth. She had finally made it outside into the parking lot, and made her way to her rental car, "We believed you. I know you got screwed over. We all know now. But why did you just give up on us?"

"I didn't give up!"

Beth pursed her lips, "It sure looks like it. So you got screwed one PPV. I still wrestle despite it all. You could've stayed and tried for us, or is it really not worth your time? You said you were a fan. If you're not going to do it for us, at least do it for them." The new Divas Champion threw her bag into the boot of her rental car, "I know what happened was bad. Hell, we put you in that position to risk your job. But Zoe, we need you back. This company needs you back. Somethings going on here. It's bigger than all of us."

Zoe sighed. She raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, tiredly, "I'm just one person-"

"I know, honey. I know." Beth made her way back inside the arena to watch the rest of the PPV, "But what you need to understand is that you have us..." Her voice trailed off, as she watched a group of Superstars and Divas crowd around the monitors, "What the hell is going on?"

Zoe turned her dark eyes to her own television screen, and her mouth dropped in horror. There, clad in black hoodies and jeans, Miz and R-Truth, were attacking the three competitors of the Hell in a Cell main event. Alberto Del Rio had the title held tightly in his arms, as the duo hit him with a steel pipe. Her eyes widened further, at the sight of John and Punk curled up on opposite corners of the ring. "Beth.."

Beth ran a shaky hand through her hair. Referees, police, John Laurinaitis and Paul Levesque ran past her to enter the ring area and try to pry the door open and stop the chaos. Forgetting she was on the phone to Zoe, she called out to the COO of the company, "Paul!" It was then that Paul sent her a wink and a sly smirk, and Beth realised exactly what was happening. While others around her raised an eyebrow at the small smirk curling her own lips, she ducked her head and continued the phonecall with Zoe in the corridor, "It's a set up."

Zoe blinked, her attention still on the PPV unfolding on her screen, "Explain!"

The blonde Diva moved out of the way quickly, as some backstage assistants ran past to get to the ring, "It's all part of a plan, Zo'. Paul organised it by the looks of things-"

"Paul?"

Beth ignored the young Creative writer's remark, "I have to go. I need to get to Phil and John and find out what they organised with Paul. I'll talk to you later, Zo'. Think about what I said, ok? Please come back."

The phone clicked off, and Zoe stared at it in wonder. Her mind was racing from the conversation with Beth, and the chaos on her television screen. What she didn't understand was why Beth and the boys seemed to be on board with Paul Levesque. He was the one that caused the screw jobs at Summerslam. Her eyes widened. What had he told them? She uncurled from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. A part of her wanted to be back there, finding out what exactly was going on and working her dream. But, another part of her didn't want to bother with that life again. She was peaceful here in Boston. She grabbed a beer from the fridge and retreated to the couch, her eyes turning their attention to the television. Miz and R-Truth had just been thrown from the building, and the camera cut to an exchange between Paul Levesque and John Laurinaitis. With the bottle neck just touching her lips, her hand stilled, her dark eyes focused on the looks shared between the two men. For two men, who were working together to control Raw and the WWE, that was a look of pure hatred and one of satisfaction. Zoe tilted her head. John Laurinaitis looked way too pleased with an unscripted segment that he hadn't planned. One that made Paul look like he was losing control of Raw.

"But why would Paul make himself look bad.." She mumbled to herself. Pressing a finger to her temple, she groaned feeling a headache coming on. Grabbing the remote to change the channel, she inwardly scowled at herself. That wasn't her world anymore. No matter what Beth and Punk had said. She couldn't do anything now and it was their problem now.

She wasn't going to be a part of it at all.

Yet.

* * *

><p><span>October 10, 2011<span>

The spontaneity and drama that came with working in a business such as the WWE had its perks sometimes. It wasn't everyday that Stephanie McMahon-Levesque dragged her husband into a locker room by his tie, a scowl on her face. Tugging her husband forward, she released her grip on his silk tie as he stumbled slightly. Gaining composure, the COO of the WWE plastered a smile on his face, winking at his wife. Stephanie stifled a growing smirk, before her eyes turned their attention to the men gathered in the locker room. She folded her arms across her chest, and raised an eyebrow at the innocent expressions etched across their faces. Growing impatient, she started to tap her foot, her heels clicking against the cold concrete floor of the arena.

"Nothing to say at all, Brooks?"

CM Punk shot a smirk at the daughter of the WWE Chairman. He leaned back against the wall, his arms raising to rest behind his head. He remained silent and Stephanie pushed her tongue into her cheek. The scowl was still on her face, and her foot continued to tap. Never in her life had she thought she would have to deal with this. The Raw Supershow had just ended in Oklahoma City, and at the beginning of the show, her father had shown up to fire Paul from being the onscreen Raw General Manager. That was fine. That was according to what the Creative team had decided. But what Stephanie was currently scowling about, was that her husband hadn't refused John Laurinaitis's suggestion to the idea that Paul and Phil Brooks should team up to take on Awesome Truth at Vengeance. Her husband wasn't supposed to wrestle. He was supposed to be helping her backstage. They were supposed to be working as a team to gain control again of the Raw production. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she rolled her eyes at the silence in the locker room. She'd seen her husband talking to Phil during the show. Considering all that had happened with Punk, it concerned her how friendly her husband now was with the man who had created all this mess in the first place. She wanted to get to the bottom of whatever Paul was hiding from her, and fast.

"John?" tried Stephanie, her eyes locking with the baby blue ones of the former WWE Champion. She knew he would cave. As the poster boy of the company, and as bad as it was to say, John would do anything for this company. Telling her everything was something John would do. But much to her distress, the poster boy of the WWE smirked right back at her. One smirk she knew all too well. Her dark eyes turned to glare angrily at CM Punk, who was stifling a chuckle, "What have you done now?"

The Straight-Edge Superstar feigned a look of innocence, pointing at himself, "Moi?"

Stephanie sighed heavily, throwing her arms in the air, "Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

"That seems to be the million dollar question."

Stephanie shot a glance at the Miz, casually leaning back against the wall, "What?"

"We don't know," stated Mike, simply.

Raking a hand through her dark hair, Stephanie raised an eyebrow at her husband, "I thought you were.. in with them."

Paul cast a glance at his fellow wrestlers, who in turn shrugged at him. He sighed, realising it was about time he told Stephanie, "Something is going on here Stephanie."

The Billion Dollar Princess folded her arms over her chest again, "No shit, Paul."

The snorts from his fellow wrestlers made Paul shoot a glare at the gathered group of men sitting and watching the exchange between husband and wife, "Stephanie, we've lost control of this company." At her ashamed look, he reached a hand out to touch her arm, "Honey, you and I both know what happened at Summerslam was wrong. We shouldn't have done what we did. We've been so caught up in the WWE Network that this show has become a second thought." He sighed, "If it wasn't for this show Steph, there would be no WWE and I think we have forgotten that. While you and I have been caught up in all the corporate crap, John Laurinaitis has been pulling strings back here-"

Steph furrowed her brow, "Laurinaitis? Seriously, Paul!"

Paul shook his head, "Believe it, Steph. He's been getting in the ears of the Creative and Booking teams. He's acting on the Board of Director's behalf. Because of him, our product is growing stale. We need to have new champions. We need new ideas."

"I'm trying!" exclaimed Stephanie, "The Creative team are just.." She trailed off, realisation setting in, "Oh wow, he really is pulling strings. Some of the team are on my side, but he's got enough backing his ideas that I'm outnumbered by one.." She paused, stepping back from her husband, "Does Dad know about this?"

Paul shook his head again, "Not at all. He only came here today because the Creative called him too. He didn't realise half of his show isn't scripted anymore."

Stephanie's eyes widened and she spun around to face the Superstars, "You weren't supposed to interrupt that match!"

Mike Mizanin and Ron Killings both grinned at her, and Mike spoke up, "Your husband told us to do so, so John could suggest to the Creative team that Hunter should be fired to ease the chaos." He beamed at her, "I see we did a good job."

"So, you wanted to not be onscreen anymore.." Stephanie paused, turning back to her husband, "But why are you wrestling?"

Paul smirked, "John doesn't want me in the picture anymore, Stephanie. I'm pretty sure he has a surprise waiting for me during that match to make sure I'm out for a while and concentrating on something else other than this business."

"Kevin," said Stephanie, simply, "He's going to use Kevin."

Paul nodded, "I'll play along with it, but my mind will be totally focused on gaining control back here."

Stephanie looked heavenward, thinking over everything she had just realised in the past few minutes, "My god, when did our show become a reality tv series?"

Punk snorted, raising his hand, "That would be my bad."

The wife of the COO sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, and glanced at the men in the room, "What can I do?"

John grinned, "Do you have any Creative positions vacant?"

Stephanie smirked, "I just need one more vote to get my half of the team's ideas working. Do you know anyone?"

John Cena's smile faltered, "I do, but I don't know if she'd be up for it." He glanced at Paul, "She left on bad conditions, remember?" He mumbled the rest of his sentence, "Plus I haven't spoken to her since Summerslam."

The two Levesques did a double take, staring at the former Champion, "What?"

John shrugged, "She won't answer our calls. We haven't spoken to her. She doesn't know that we know Summerslam wasn't her fault."

Punk chewed his lip, "I spoke to her." All eyes turned to the Straight-Edge Superstar, who winced under the glare John was shooting him, "I thought it was her fault. So I told her so.." He sighed at the looks, "I'll go get her."

Paul and Stephanie glanced at each other, remembering the volatile relationship Phil Brooks and Zoe Winters shared. Each thought the exact same thing, as they turned to John, "You're going with him."

CM Punk looked heavenward, "This is not going to be fun at all."

* * *

><p><span>October 11, 2011<span>

Phil Brooks was officially in hell.

And he was going to blame John Cena for this situation.

He'd been to his fair share of bars, whilst travelling with the WWE. While he might be straight-edge, his friends were on the other end of the spectrum, and they enjoyed a few drinks after a show and he would usually accompany them. But this one was making him feel nauseous. The sports bar was still in original condition from 50 years ago, and the Straight-Edge Superstar blanched at the smell of alcohol that was filling his nose. He glared at John Cena next to him, who just flashed him a cheesy grin. The bar was still filled with a few patrons, their eyes all turned to the televisions hung on the walls as the Boston Red Sox were playing.

"Zo' baby girl! Grab us another round of beers will you?"

"You haven't finished those beers I already gave you!"

There was a pause from the loud man perched on a barstool with his friends, "Woman, can't I have an excuse to check out your fine ass?"

Zoe snorted, as she carried a crate of beers around the bar, throwing a wink at the man over her shoulder, "Boy, you sure know how to charm the ladies. How is the wife by the way?" As the older man and his friends chuckled, she flashed them a wide smile, "I'll bring you your beers on the next commercial break, deal?" The hoots of agreement made her laugh, and she readjusted the crate in her arms stepping around the bar before her eyes caught sight of the two large males standing just inside the entrance. She pushed her tongue into her cheek, her hip cocking out to the side, the crate still in her arms. "You brought the Straight-Edge messiah to a bar, Cena. If he starts preaching, I can't guarantee they won't kill him."

As she turned to place the crates behind the bar, the two male superstars walked towards the bar, "Zoe c'mon, hear us out."

The dark haired girl spun around, her hand firmly on her hips, her eyes dark, "No."

"Zoe!"

"Get out of my bar."

John came closer to the bar bench, "We know you didn't do it."

She slapped a rag onto the bar, and John jumped back, "Before or after I got the abusive phone call from the short order cook over there."

Punk tore his eyes away from glaring at a man sculling a jug of beer, "I'm sorry, what?"

John threw his hands in the air, frustrated, "Goddamit Punk this was your idea."

"No, my idea was to come without you. Paul and Steph agreed you should chaperone me. You seem to be making her more angry." He paused, his brow furrowed, "Why is that?"

John sighed, scratching his head, "I called her mother-"

"You're damn right you called my mother! She came looking for me, and almost held an intervention to get me back to work." She ran a hand through her hair, angrily, "I didn't need you ratting me out to my own mother-"

"I didn't know where you were! No one did!"

Her hand went back to her hips, a scowl on her face, "Where else would I have gone, John? I'm a Boston girl. I always come home. Or have you forgotten that?" Her eyes looked over John's shoulder to the table of curious onlookers, "Haven't you boys got a game to watch?" The group of men turned their attention back to the television and she lowered her voice slightly, "I had to put up with a week's worth of 'we told you so' from my mother about working in that company. And it was all thanks to you. I could've lied to her, but you told her everything."

"I'm sorry baby girl, I really am."

Zoe sighed, cocking her hip to the other side, "What is it you boys want?"

"We know you didn't do it."

Zoe locked eyes with the tattooed man standing opposite her, "Took you long enough."

Punk let out a small chuckle, "Wasn't easy, but Paul told me what happened."

Zoe scoffed, "I'm surprised he didn't pass the blame to someone else." Her patience for the man's motto of 'what's best for the company' was wearing thin, and she was quite surprised that he had told Punk the situation. From what she had seen on television with Paul's character Triple H back in the spotlight, she assumed it was all a personal vendetta. But the past few weeks since Night of Champions, her thoughts on him had changed. Everything about that show was so chaotic that she couldn't decide if that's what he wanted or not.

Punk shook his head, almost reading her mind, "He wasn't part of it. The board voted against my title run, and he had to follow through with it-"

"What about your match against him? You can't tell me that wasn't to put him back on an ego trip."

"He canceled the match with Kevin because it wasn't fair to me that I had to enter a feud with that moron. Doing mic work with him caused me a headache, let alone trying to do a match where he'd most probably botch every second move." Punk shoved his hands in his pockets, "He's been asked to step down from RAW GM duties."

Zoe rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I saw. Still doesn't mean he won't have pulling power backstage."

John spoke up, "He's not. John Laurinaitis, on the board's behalf, is deciding everything. Steph may be head of the Creative team, but when the majority of your Creative team is siding against you, you're going to have problems."

That's when Zoe realised exactly why they were here. She shook her head, her tongue pushing into her cheek, "Why are you here? You want me to come back don't you?" The guilty look shared between the two men made her roll her eyes, "I'm one person. I don't understand where you guys think that I'm going to make a difference." She pointed accusingly at Punk, "You've done it before, and you should know by now that I can't do it. Look what's happened to me. I'm working here for god's sake!"

"You didn't have to leave," started John.

"You think I was wanted there?" growled Zoe, moving down the bar to grab a tray of beers. She stepped out from behind the bar, taking the tray of beers to the customers. She flashed an easy grin at the males, before turning her attention back to John and Punk, "I'm not coming with you."

CM Punk rolled his eyes, "Look shit happens. But the past few weeks, we've been setting things in motion to make some changes, we need you to come back. You once told me that no matter what you would have that job. Please Zo'."

"Oh so now, you want my help," snapped Zoe, glaring at the man before her, "Not after the way you treated me."

Punk clenched his jaw, "Listen, I thought it was you-"

"You didn't let me explain myself!"

"Because you had such good excuses prior to that, didn't you?"

"I was trying to do my job to how they liked it!" cried Zoe, "I'm sick of explaining that to you!"

Punk sighed, angrily, "Look, right now, we need you. Not just me, but he does. Beth does, Nat does.. Everyone. You get your second chance."

Zoe sighed, her hands reaching up to tie her hair in a messy ponytail, "I need time to make these changes. Don't lose your shit at me if I can't get results straight away."

John tossed an arm over her shoulder, "We promise. And you've got us to help you."

Zoe snorted, "Well that's gotten me far in the past." She eyed CM Punk standing before her, her anger simmering down, "You know you could've just called again."

He raised an eyebrow, "Would you have answered?"

She smirked, "No. Why were you sent anyway? I can understand him because I like him." She paused, "We hate each other... And everyone knows that."

"I was ordered to. I was going to come alone, but someone manhandled me here himself because he didn't trust what I was going to do." He glared at the larger man for a moment, "Stop looking at me like that. Seriously, do you do this to all of Liz's friends? How does she have any left?"

"He's my cousin."

Punk swung his head around to face her, "What?"

Zoe's lips quirked into a small smile, "John and I are cousins."

Punk blanched for a second, "You just lost ten points in my book."

"You've got no points in my book, so it's only fair."

His tongue pushed out his lip ring, and he sighed, running a hand through his dishevelled hair, "Look, I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry."

"If ever an appropriate time, what?"

CM Punk rolled his eyes at the woman in front of him, "Plagirist."

"I wrote your lines, Punk. That one is all mine."

* * *

><p>AN: So now Steph is onboard and so is Zoe! Review please :)


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Sorry for the delay once again! I'm really hoping I can catch up this story, in time with Raw, and have it coincide with Wrestlemania! Fingers crossed! Thank you once again to all the people who placed this sotyr on alert or favourites. Big thank you to the special people who took the time out to review: matt-hardy-101, antihero32, StephNexus, loganthesexybeast, xxdarkvampireangelxx, Miserlou, and The Erumpent Horn. And yes just to clarify, Zoe is John's cousin. I never mentioned it in the previous chapters. I only hinted at the connection between the two and wanted people to make up their own minds before finding out. Anyway enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>October 11, 2011<span>

"John Anthony Felix Cena, what did you do to my daughter?.. And don't try that smile with me, boy. It works on your mother, but not on me. I'm immune to the Cena smiles."

John Cena, red with embarrassment, pushed past his younger cousin, Zoe, to grab his aunty in a hug. The older woman rolled her eyes, hugging her nephew before pushing him away. She swatted him with her washcloth in her hands, and he grinned at her, his dimples on show, "I'm sorry, Lisa."

"That's Aunt Lisa to you," she snapped, a small smile curling her lips. Her eyes turned to look at Punk and she raised an eyebrow, the smile falling from her face, "And you are?"

"Phil Brooks, ma'am."

Even Zoe and John raised their eyebrows at the polite CM Punk. He reached out an arm and shook Lisa's hand, before stepping back away from the family. Lisa smiled at him, "Be polite all you want, but I know what you did to my girl." Zoe snorted at the shocked smirk on Punk's face, and Lisa made her way into the kitchen, "Now who wants something to eat?"

Zoe Winters and the two former WWE Champions had returned to Zoe's mother's house to talk about her decision to return to the WWE. Throughout the drive home, thoughts were going wild through Zoe's head. She had no idea what to do. While she initially agreed with the boys to return to her former job, she honestly could not deal with the heartbreak and stress of it again. It was a job that she had wanted to do since she was a child, but being part of it was a bad reality for her as she saw that it wasn't all sunshine and daisies behind the scenes of her beloved show. Right now, she had to be entirely convinced by these two men for her to return to the WWE. It wasn't going to be too easy, considering one was her cousin and always looking out for her, and the other was the one that started this whole saga. Guiding the boys into her mother's kitchen, Zoe managed to cart her mother out of the kitchen area. She didn't trust the way she was glaring at Punk. There were too many sharp objects about, and her mother was a Cena. They acted first before asking questions. As the guys settled in seats around the table, Zoe grabbed some drinks and glasses for them, shaking the image of her mother possibly killing Punk out of her head.

"I don't understand what I can do for you guys." She pointed at John, taking a seat between the two men, "You're going to get your rematch clause against Berto, so why do you need me?"

"They want me to win. I don't want to win."

The dark haired man opposite him clapped mockingly, "Oh the joys of being the WWE's pin up boy. You get to choose when you want to be champion." John shot a glare at him and Punk smirked, "Put in a good word for me will you."

Zoe ignored Punk, turning to face John again, "Who do you want as Champion then?" Her eyes looked heavenward when her cousin pointed at Punk, and she resisted the urge to smack the Boston native. This whole mess started because Punk wanted to be champion. She pushed her tongue into her cheek, "I can't work miracles, John."

"Touche."

"I am sitting right here, you know."

John grinned at his friend, before pouring him some Coke. He watched as Punk eyed it with disdain, "Grow a pair, Brooks. It tastes the same."

"What else do you have?"

Zoe smirked, "Beer."

Punk lunged for the glass of Coke, "Mine." Clutching the cold glass to his chest, he took a sip, disgust clouding his features. Shaking his head, he placed the glass back down, and tipped backwards on his chair, "Stephanie is down by one vote. All she needs is you to get the go ahead on her storylines."

John nodded, as Zoe looked at him for confirmation, "They need you."

Zoe didn't look convinced, "So they need an extra vote. They could hire anyone. Why do they want me?"

"Because we trust you."

As John Cena launched into a speech about how everyone believed in her backstage, and wanted her to be back on the team, Zoe's eyes glanced at Phil Brook's hazel eyes. He wasn't even looking at them. He was too interested in the glass of Coke. A drink he hated. While Zoe tried to believe the others still trusted her, the tattooed man beside her was probably take a long time to trust her again. They had used each other for their own gain, with each hurting the other. Wrapping her fingers tightly around her own glass, Zoe sighed, "Not everyone does."

John paused in his speech to hear the quiet statement from his younger cousin. He became aware of the silence shared between his two companions and he sighed, tapping his fingers on the table, "In time, they will."

Zoe cast a glance back at Punk, who had now found the tiled floor more interesting, and she changed the subject, "Fine, so who is in on this? This won't work if we are going to get more wrestlers on Laurinaitis's side."

Punk spoke up, "Nick, Vickie and Jake. Matt and Bryan." He paused, holding up his hands, and trying to count aloud the rest of the Superstars and Divas on board with the idea. Zoe's eyes widened. She would never had expected this many to be on their side. Maybe Punk had been right all those weeks ago. People are tired of the same formula. While Zoe was slowly approving of her move back to the WWE, a feeling in her gut rose. They may be tired of the same formula, but what if the new one doesn't work?

Zoe cut off Punk's counting, "This can't just change all at once."

John nodded, "First order of business is the WWE Championship. Then we go after the Divas, and then the midcard. Shifting needs to happen."

She chewed her lip, nervously, "It's going to take weeks for this. Will they be fine to wait?" At their nods, she quickly stood up from her seat, "I'll be right back."

Punk leaned forward in his chair, an eyebrow raised, "You reckon she'll do it?"

"We're kind of fucked if she doesn't."

Punk grinned, "And the boy scout swears. First, he doesn't want to be Champion and now, he's acting-"

"Shut up, Punk." Zoe returned to the kitchen, a notepad in her hand. Taking a seat again, she smiled shyly at the two men, "We need a plan. So we're going to have to work it out.."

As she continued to explain her ideas, Punk and John shared a look over her bent head. She was onboard, and changes were going to be happening in the WWE. Both of the men smirked at each other.

Now to take down Laurinaitis.

* * *

><p>"Bathroom is just up the stairs. Turn right, then third door on your left."<p>

CM Punk found the bathroom easily, but it was on his walk back downstairs that he passed by a bedroom he could not resist peeking into. Pushing the ajar door open a bit more, he slipped into the room, his eyes taking in the decor of the small room. The walls were lined with posters of wrestlers, bands, actors and models. Books were scattered all over the room, and on several shelves. He chuckled softly to himself as he looked at the room. Zoe Winters really was a nerd. The wrestler photos were of all the greats from the decades past and a few of Trish Stratus and Beth Phoenix. There was a massive poster of her cousin hanging near her mirror and he rolled his eyes. Of course, John was her hero. Stepping closer, he noticed a smaller poster beside the John Cena poster, and he snorted.

It was a poster of him.

His eyes caught sight of a back of photo peaking out from the side of his poster, and his brow furrowed. Reaching a hand forward, he plucked the partially hidden photo from the wall and his eyebrows rose. The back of it had been dated Survivor Series 2006. His lips twitched into a small smile remembering that night. The fans had been ecstatic when he had joined Team DX with the Hardy Boys to take on Rated RKO, Johnny Nitro, Gregory Helms and Mike Knox. They had called him the future of ECW. If only they knew where he would be now. He flipped the photo over and his eyes widened. There in the photo was him with his arm wrapped around a young blonde haired girl.

* * *

><p><span>November 26, 2006<span>

"Seriously Zo-ho, you run off one more time, I'm tying you to a pole."

"Can you tie me to Randy?"

John spluttered, his hand rubbing his face, exhausted. He'd spent a majority of Survivor Series babysitting his 18 year old cousin, and her insistence to keep disappearing was wearing thin, "No, I can not tie you to Randall. You just saw that he had a match and he probably wants to shower and leave."

Zoe grinned, "I don't see the problem there."

John growled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a headlock as he led her through the hallways to the monitor bay area. He was hoping he would find Trish or Lita or someone to keep an eye out on the younger girl. He was also trying to remember why he let her come and visit him. The young girl had just turned 18, and as a present to her, he organised a trip to the WWE for her. The WWE Champion laughed as Zoe flailed her arms about, trying to hit her older cousin. He heard her breath hitch and he rolled his eyes when he spotted Randy coming into the monitor bay after his traditional Survivor Series match.

Randy raised an eyebrow, "I don't know if I should ask."

"It's better you don't," quipped John, waving as his friend disappeared down the hallway. He rolled his eyes when he heard Zoe cry out to him. "What is wrong with you?" He snapped, removing his arm to let her stand straight next to him.

Zoe slapped his shoulder, before reaching a hand up to push her thickrimmed glasses up her nose, "I'm in love."

"No, you're in heat. Sit down and don't touch." John groaned, as her face lit up and he looked heavenward, hoping he would not have daughters in the future.

"By the way can you stop introducing me as your cousin. People are giving me worried looks, and I'm curious and scared as to why."

John pointed at the chair, "Sit. Now. And when we get home, you are dying your hair back to it's original colour, Barbie."

"Future of the ECW right here," called Paul Levesque as he wrapped an arm around the shoulders of CM Punk. He spotted John and waved, "John, you've met Punk."

John smiled, reaching a hand forward to shake the dark haired man's hand, "Yeah, I have. Congrats on the win by the way."

"Thanks, man." His eyes looked over John's shoulder at the blonde girl pouting, "Whose that?"

John glanced behind him and rolled his eyes again, "Zoe, for god's sake, stop acting like I've killed your dog."

Zoe stuck her finger up at him, before turning her head to face the group of men. Her jaw dropped and she bit her lip, shyly. The duo known as DX grinned to themselves, patting John on the back, "I think we found a fan. Introduce us, John."

The WWE Champion shook his head, chuckling to himself, as he gestured Zoe over. The young blonde ran over and chewed her lip, her eyes bright with excitement. "Guys, this is Zoe." He caught the subtle elbow into his gut, and he chuckled as she beamed at the men in front of her.

Paul and Michael kissed her hand and she rolled her eyes, "Pleasure to meet you, princess. I'm Paul and this is Michael. And this here is.."

"CM Punk." John Cena's eyebrows shot upward as the smile on Zoe's face broadened. He watched as she extended her hand to shake Punk's, who had a small grin on his face, "Undefeated on ECW right?"

Punk couldn't contain his grin, "Yeah, actually. I'm only new, so eventually I'll have to lose."

"I hope not."

"Mr. Cena, your match is on."

As the production assistant ran off, John shot a glance at a starstruck Zoe, who was busy chatting to Punk. He looked heavenward. The chances of anything happening to her while she was with the Straight-Edge Superstar were slim. He spotted Paul and Michael bouncing around harrassing some of the new talent, and he shook his head. Yep, Punk it is. "Hey baby girl-" He flinched at the glare she shot him, "I've got a match on now. You'll be fine here?"

"I'll stay with her."

John nodded, "Stay with Punk. Do not go stalk Randy. Promise?" As he took off for the gorilla area, Zoe scowled at his retreating back. Way to embarrass her.

A deep chuckle caught her attention, "Really, Orton?"

"It's the tattoos." She bit back a smile as Punk threw his arms out to show her his tattoos, "You'll do."

* * *

><p><span>October 11, 2011<span>

Punk remembered that day vaguely. It had been so long ago that he didn't put two and two together and realise that the young blonde girl was now the ex-WWE Creative writer sitting downstairs. He remembered sitting there with her while John was out wrestling in the main event. The two had talked for ages, and finally when she had left, she took a photo with him and then with Randy, who cheekily groped her in front of his best friend John. He pressed the photo back onto the wall, with the photo facing out. Punk left the room, his head filled with thoughts. That night, he had been given a chance to wrestle alongside DX and the Hardy Boyz. He had been that new guy, and they had given him a chance. Right now, he was going to use that, and bring along his own new guys. And he knew just the right pair.

* * *

><p><span>October 15, 2011<span>

"Oh. My. God!"

CM Punk raised an eyebrow, looking over his sunglasses at a tanning Maryse Ouellet. The French Canadian rolled her eyes, taking her time to get up from her sun chair and make her way over to Zoe Winters. "Is he always this loud?" At Maryse's smirk, Punk groaned, "I'm just not even going to talk now."

Maryse pushed her boyfriend to the side. The over excited Mike Mizanin had squealed loudly upon laying eyes on Zoe Winters, and ran to her within seconds, scooping her up in a massive hug. Some of the Superstars were gathered around the pool of their resort in Mexico, and Zoe had entered the outdoors area, much to their delight. Wrapping her arms around the young woman, Maryse smiled, "Welcome back, ma cheri." With an arm still wrapped around her shoulders, the blonde led her friend back to her sun chair, seating her down beside her, "It's about time, non?"

Zoe grinned at Maryse, before her attention was turned to the wrestling match ensuing between Punk and Mike. She rolled her eyes, pushing her sunglasses further up her nose, "I was having a nice vacation."

The French Canadian clucked her tongue, a small laugh leaving her, "Well I hope you're ready to work. They've got a whole heap of shit for you."

Zoe snorted at the Diva's blunt terms, "So I heard." She beamed at the two blonde Divas running towards her, and stifled a laugh as Natalya almost pushed Beth into the pool to get to her first. Laughing, she rose to hug the two women, "Didn't think you guys would be this happy to see me!"

"I get to rip extensions out now that you're back!"

At the exclamation, Zoe burst into laughter, wrapping an arm around Beth, "Your violent tendencies scare me."

"Have you seen her devour protein pudding?"

"I will kill you."

Zoe and Natalya shared an amused glance before the four women sat together on Maryse's and Mike's sunchairs. Fiddling with the hem of her short white sundress, Zoe grinned as the women filled her in on all the details of the past few weeks. It was like she was home again. She had fears the entire plane trip to Mexico about how they would act. Sure, they wanted her help, but after she had ditched them, she thought they wouldn't be as welcoming. Her smile grew, as Beth hugged her tightly to her side, "Seriously, we have missed you." The new Diva's Champion cast a glance at Punk, who had Mike in a head lock, "I trust grumpy pants was nice to you?"

Pursing her lips, Zoe shrugged, "I guess. He didn't tell me he hated me this time. That's a first for us."

"Phil hates everyone," said Natalya, waving a hand, dismissively. "You've got us anyway, you don't need those guys-"

"MICHAEL!" The women shared a grin, as Maryse stood up angrily from her chair after a large splash had drenched the girls. With her hands on her hips, she glared at the two spluttering men in the pool. "Are you children?"

"Chill out, Maurice. Don't get your panties in a twist." The remark only made Maryse scowl some more, before she spun around and went to sit back down with the other girls. She paused as she heard Punk continue to Michael, "I don't know how you put up with her."

"Michael!"

Mike looked innocently, from his spot floating in the pool, "What?"

"Kill him."

"Yes ma'am."

Natalya clapped a hand on Maryse's back, "Ball and chain, Maryse."

The former Diva's champion smiled, her scowl vanishing instantly from her face, "I'm a lucky woman." She paused, her eyebrow raising at Zoe, "So what do you have planned?"

Zoe let a sly smile form on her face as she outlined her ideas for Raw. The girls were beyond excited. Despite the fact that Maryse was being released in a week, she still had the same excitement, knowing that the Diva Division would maybe get some respect that it deserved. Not only that, there were going to be other changes to the rest of the roster. As the women sat on the sunchairs, they never noticed an approaching blonde.

"Welcome home, Zoe."

Zoe's dark eyes looked up to see Barbara Blank standing beside their seats. She offered the former Champion a small smile, "Hey Barb." Her eyes caught sight of Eve Torres standing behind her, "Hey Eve." Eve offered her a small wave, before Zoe turned her attention back to Barbara, who was standing next to the chairs, her arms folded across her bikini clad chest. "What's up?"

Barbara pushed her tongue into her cheek, "I hear you're back to make big changes."

"I can only try," said Zoe, smiling sweetly at the blonde. From her short time in the company, Zoe knew where Barbara and her character of Kelly Kelly stood with the board of directors. John Laurinaitis had signed her up himself, when he decided that the company needed more models rather than female wrestlers to help boost the show. She had slowly become John's favourite, along with Vince McMahon's. Zoe was all for the beautiful models, but after having seen the wrestlers on the show be pushed aside for these girls with limited abilities to be put over, it wasn't fair.

"Whatever you have planned, you have to think about who you're now taking opportunities away from," started Barbara, her eyes narrowing at Zoe, "Are you going to push me aside because I'm not the best wrestler, just like they weren't fitting the model mould?"

Zoe arched an eyebrow, "It's a wrestling show, there is a difference as to what needs to be promoted."

"It's sports entertainment. And I'm here to entertain."

The returning Creative writer could hear Beth crack her knuckles from beside her. Pursing her lips, Zoe stood up, her arms crossing her chest, "See that's where you're wrong. You're not entertaining. The Divas Division has been performing worse and worse with every week. I'm not taking any opportunity away from you. You'll still be on telelvision, but you'll be doing what you were signed to do. And that is look pretty on the side of the ring. Only the real Divas will be stepping into that ring."

Barbara stepped closer to her, before Eve reached out and wrapped her hand around the blonde's arm. "C'mon Barb, let's go." As Barbara walked away furious, Eve stayed behind a wry smile on her face, "I don't care where you put me, as long as it's not as her ridiculous best friend." She winked at the girls, before hurrying off to catch up with the Diva known as Kelly Kelly.

Beth pulled on Zoe's arm to make her sit beside her again, a worried look on her face, "Why did you tell her that? You know her and Laurinaitis are close!"

Zoe glanced over her shoulder at the fuming Kelly Kelly, who was gesturing wildly at Eve. She smiled and turned back to Beth, "Gives us time." At the girl's questioning looks, her smile broadened, "While he's focused on trying to get Kelly back in the spotlight, we can make a move on the WWE Championship situation. Once he realises that is not going according to what he wants, his focus will change and we will change to making the Divas Division respectable again."

Maryse clapped her hands together, a smirk stretching across her face, "Alors, I think we need to celebrate!" She waved her hands wildly at a bartender, and within moments, a tray of cocktails were being carried over to the women. She beamed at her friends, handing out the cool drinks, "To changes."

"And to the demise of the perky brat."

* * *

><p><span>October 23, 2011<span>

The Mexico tapings had been too soon for Zoe to work her magic and get her plan in action. During the tapings, she had met with Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque, showing them a guideline of what she had planned. She was more than happy when the two WWE Executives were on board with the idea. Some minor adjustments were made, but their main focus was on taking control of the show again. Laurinaitis was not only getting part of the Booking team and Creative team on his side, but also a few of the talent were being persuaded to agree on his decisions. During the taping of Raw, Laurinaitis had pulled a fun unscripted stunt, involving Triple H. Triple H had planned on being ringside for Punk's match to provoke Laurinaitis into doing something. The provoking worked. Partway through the match, John Laurinaitis appeared with a group of officials to escort Triple H to the back, regarding immigration problems. Zoe and Stephanie didn't miss the wink that Paul had thrown Miz and Punk during their match. He knew exactly what Laurinaitis was planning to do, and the boys continued their match. Now a week later, it was Vengeance, in San Antonio, Texas. Hours before the event was set to begin, Zoe and Stephanie were working furiously on any last minute changes to the card. They had just received the booking sheet, and Steph's eyebrows furrowed at the timing of the matches.

"What's wrong?" asked Zoe, looking up from her pile of scripts.

Steph passed over the booking sheet to the young woman, "We are a good 15 minutes short."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "We can't make the promos longer. They are already long enough."

The door burst open, startling them, and one peroxide blonde male came barrelling through, dragging the man known as Zack Ryder with him. Stephanie stifled a laugh at the two, and raised a slim eyebrow, "Nick Nemeth and Matt Cardona. Don't you two have somewhere else to be?"

The man known as Dolph Ziggler grinned, "We heard about the booking sheet." At the girls' questioning looks, he shrugged, "Seriously, you really think everything here is kept hush hush?" Pulling out a chair, he took a seat, resting his folded hands on the table, "We have a proposition for you. 15 minutes is enough time for me to have a match with Princess over here." He gestured at Matt, who took a seat beside him.

Zoe chuckled, "You're already in a match, Nick."

Nick shrugged, "So?" He gestured towards Matt again, "He's not. And the crowd keeps chanting his name, and if anyone is going to give him a match, it's you girls. Laurinaitis hates him. That's why we came to you directly, rather than our dear head of Talent Relations."

Steph sat back in her seat, "You've had this planned for a while."

"We've been practicing since Mexico."

Stephanie laughed at the look of glee on Matt's face. The internet sensation was a crowd favourite, and while no one had ever had a good idea for him to start appearing on television, she realised now was the perfect opportunity. She nodded her head, "Fine, you get your match. Whose to win?" Nick pointed at himself, and she nodded again. Her smile widened as Matt ran out of the room, yelling about his match, and Stephanie called out to Nick before he too disappeared, "Nick, thank you. You're doing a good thing putting him over."

Nick nodded, "Thanks." He paused, leaning on the doorframe for a second, "Maybe next, you'll give him the United States Championship."

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, "You've spoken to Punk, haven't you?"

Nick's face broke into a wide grin, "If you're going to make changes, you need strength in numbers. Pretty much the entire locker room is on board. No pressure to you ladies."

* * *

><p>"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"<p>

Chaos had once again erupted at a WWE Pay Per View. Paul Levesque had been right when he accepted the offer to wrestle alongside CM Punk against Awesome Truth. He was right in saying that Laurinaitis wouldn't be able to help himself, and would somehow take him out of the match. That's exactly what occured. Although Miz and R-Truth were booked to win, no one saw Kevin Nash appearing from the crowd, and taking out Paul at ringside. Punk was left to somehow communicate with his opponents, and the trio managed to salvage the ending and still have Awesome Truth win. At the end of the match however, Kevin Nash grabbed Triple H from the ring, and proceeded to powerbomb him, and effectively botch the move. Paul was staggering backstage with the help of Punk and Miz, his arm curled against his chest. As he returned to the backstage area, he was confronted with the sight of his irate wife berating the head of Talent Relations.

Pushing Punk off of him, Paul stepped forward to his wife, "Stephanie!"

Stephanie ignored him, her face red with anger as she glared at John Laurinaitis, "As head of Talent, you should be able to recognise when a talent is incapable of performing. Did you see him botch that move? And when on earth was this authorised to happen?"

John Laurinaitis remained calm, a small smirk on his face, "I ran it past the booking team. They were fine with it."

"You have crossed the line!" roared Stephanie. "My husband could have been injured. He had no idea what was going on!"

"Isn't that the beauty of it? It was so exciting because it was unexpected."

Paul stepped forward, and with his uninjured arm, he grabbed his wife who was ready to jump forward and smack Laurinaitis across the face. Pulling her to his side, he narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him. "The surprise was great, John. Keep them up and we will see if you have a job soon."

From behind the power couple, Zoe watched as John's face widened into a larger smirk. She stepped closer to them, her arm reaching out to hold Stephanie back as well. John saw her move and he rolled his eyes. "You may be Vince's daughter and son in law, but you have none of the voting power. I'm acting on the Board of Director's behalf. They want me to restore order to this program-"

"You're making it worse!" screamed Stephanie, her hair falling into her face. She pushed it back, her eyes glaring with fury, "You've done all of this!"

"I had to fix it when you allowed some punk to make the decisions around here!" John folded his arms across his chest, "The Board trusts me. And until they see otherwise, I'm going to be making a few of my own changes around here." He glared at Zoe, "No one will be getting in my way."

Zoe's heart raced at the glare he sent her. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was afraid that everything she had planned wasn't going to work. She'd already been through this one time before. The pressure. The disappointment. The last thing she wasnted was getting ahead of herself, and realising this was all a lost cause. Zoe thought she had managed to divert his attention to the Divas Division after her confrontation with Barbara Blank. However, he seemed to have this planned at the back of his mind the whole time. As Paul dragged Stephanie away from pulling Laurinatis's hair out, Zoe hurried down the corridor, her heels clicking along the cold concrete floor of the San Antonio arena. Her heart was pounding and her breath was shortening again. She could hear footsteps behind her, as her anxiety attack worsened, and felt a pair of arms grab her around the waist, and push her to sit on the box of technical equipment placed against the wall. Weakly, she pushed the body away from her, her other hand pulling back her hair away from her neck and face.

"You can't back out now."

Zoe's eyes fluttered open to focus on the unshaven face of CM Punk. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back against the wall, her head still spinning, "I'm not."

"You look scared shitless."

"It's like he is two steps ahead of us."

CM Punk sighed, raking a hand through his messed up hair, "I heard about what you said to Barb again."

"That was to get his attention!" Zoe groaned, looking heavenward, "I thought he would worry about his golden girl. Clearly, he's more interested in you guys."

Punk leaned against the wall opposite her, "He wants John as Champion again. I heard him talking to that Jake Ritter jerk."

Zoe shook her head, burying her face in her hands, "I'm not making him Champion." She looked up at the former WWE Champion, "It's you and Del Rio. He's not going to like it. But what the hell am I going to do with John that will make him focus on him?"

Punk paused for a moment, "What about Mike and R-Truth? I know you wanted the fab duo to break up next week. But why not have him go against them?"

"In a handicap match? Yeah alright, Punk, the SuperCena routine again?"

"With a partner. What you think I'm an idiot?" At Zoe's smirk, he pushed his tongue into his cheek, "What about Ryder?"

"Laurinaitis hates Ryder. He'll want to change it and then we're fucked." Zoe tilted her head to the side, "We need someone who Laurinaitis is going to be too worried about impressing and who he'll want the Board of Directors to think is his idea."

Punk rolled his eyes, "A current Superstar that you want to team with Cena, that will win Laurinaitis extra brownie points with the suits? Who the.." He trailed off and his eyes widened. He stared at Zoe, whose mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide also. "Ultimate suck up."

Zoe grinned, energy coming back to her as she jumped off the tech box. "The one and only." She hurried down the corridor, calling over her shoulder, "Shotgun my idea."

"He hates me anyway. The Rock is all yours, Zoe."

* * *

><p>AN: Review! please :)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Apologies for the short chapter! It's just a small one to set up for the changes that will be occurring around Survivor Series and TLC! Thank you again to all the reviews and alerts, especially ConchaaRex, The Erumpent Horn, antihero32, and WhiteAsukalover.

* * *

><p><span>October 31, 2011<span>

"It's times like these that makes me I wish I drank."

"It's times like these that make me wonder why we became friends with Mike."

"It's times like these that I think you guys are-" Mike Mizanin spluttered for words, before groaning, "Buttheads!"

Phil Brooks smirked, "Oh that was good, Michael. Did you come up with that by yourself?"

John Cena grinned from his spot beside Phil on the couch, "Nice outfit by the way. Maryse pick it out for you?"

"Of course I picked it out," stated Maryse, as she entered the room, fixing an earring into place, "Je t'aime le chien!" She cooed, kissing Mike quickly on the cheek. The Miz blushed at the attention from his girlfriend, before sending the boys a proud smirk. Punk and John rolled their eyes at their best friend as they flicked through the photos on his phone, showing them the Halloween Party they went to in Los Angeles on the weekend. It had served as both a Halloween party, and Maryse's celebration as a free agent now that the WWE had released her. She was still travelling with Mike for a bit, until she found some more work. While she loved the idea of new opportunities, Maryse admitted that leaving the WWE would be hard, no matter how poorly they had been treating her the past couple of months. She grabbed a pair of heels from her suitcase, and slid them onto her feet, "Any surprises planned for Raw tonight?"

CM Punk waved a hand at her dismissively, "Nah, John Laurinaitis isn't going to risk anything with the Muppets around."

Maryse raised an eyebrow, "Pourquoi?"

"The last thing that man is going to do is fuck around with the show while we've got guests," explained John, throwing the phone back to Mike. "By the way, are you almost ready, Maryse? We are supposed to be leaving soon!"

She clucked her tongue, pulling her hair into a loose ponytail, "Where is Zoe? She's coming with us." She rolled her eyes as she heard a knock at her hotel room door, "Alors, here she is." The blonde ex-Diva moved towards the hotel room door, swinging it open and wrapping up her friend in a hug. "Finally, we can go." Maryse glanced at the shirt that was peaking through Punk's jacket, "What the hell are you wearing?"

Mike smirked, "Told you it was the ugliest t-shirt in the world."

Punk unzipped his jacket more to show off the tshirt he was wearing, "C'mon, as if this isn't the greatest Halloween outfit."

"Well it is kinda scary looking."

Zoe rolled her eyes, "Really? For Halloween, you dress up as Jack Burton? Jesus, you really are special." She linked her arm through Maryse's and guided the older woman out of the hotel room, leaving the three wrestlers to look quizzically at each other.

John pointed at the tshirt, "She knows what that is?"

Punk's eyes followed the two girls leaving the hotel room, and his lips quirked into a small smirk, "Knew there was a reason I liked her."

* * *

><p>"Stop. It."<p>

Zoe bit hard on her hand, trying not to burst into a fit of giggles at the look on Beth and Natalya's faces. She had to admit John Laurinaitis must have had a hand in organising this. The Divas were scheduled for a Halloween Costume Battle Royal for the Number One Contender. But right now, as they were all being assigned their costumes, the current Diva's Champion and her best friend were trying to bribe Eve for her outfit. Eve ducked behind Zoe, giggles escaping her as Beth threw the dark Queen costume at the two of them. Eve was given the costume of Robin, whilst Beth was given a long gown as the Queen of the Ring, and Natalya was the Queen of Hearts. Compared to the other girls, the costumes were not appealing at all, and Zoe had to wonder who actually organised these. She glanced at the rack where Kelly Kelly's outfit hung. She rolled her eyes. A bright white pirate costume. Yep, definitely Laurinaitis's doing. Beth was almost on her knees pleading with Eve for the costume.

"Pleaseeee Eve!"

Eve giggled, shaking her head, "Beth, how on earth am I supposed to wrestle in that!" She pointed at the dark gown that Beth had thrown over a box of ring attire, "I could lose someone under there."

Zoe snorted, picking up the outfit from the box. She held it up in front of her, "Wow, this is um.. Jesus.. Good luck, Elizabeth."

Beth reached forward, snatching the outfit from Zoe, with a scowl on her face, "I hate you."

Zoe smiled sweetly, "You look beautiful." She reached a hand forward tugging Beth's curls, "Wowza."

Beth rolled her eyes, smacking Zoe's hand away, "I'm going to throttle someone." She pointed at Eve, who was changing into her costume, "You're lucky that you're winning the Battle Royal otherwise I would've throttled someone."

Natalya laughed, pushing Beth behind a curtain to change, "That was her way of saying congratulations." She rolled her eyes upon hearing Beth's muffled reply of 'No it wasn't.'. Natalya folded her arms across her chest, "By the way, have you seen whose been hanging around Barbara lately?"

"Victoria 'Alicia Fox' Crawford," spat Eve, throwing her curtain open after changing into her Robin outfit.

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "Another of Laurinaitis's picks." It was no secret that a majority of the Divas that Laurinaitis had signed to the WWE brand had been models in fashion catalogues. He had barely made any visits to FCW and wasn't interested in the women being developed there, and instead decided to go with the more glamourous models that he found in magazines. The fact that Victoria was hanging with Barbara was no coincidence. The two had been plucked from catalogues around the same time. The Diva known as Alicia Fox had spent the past few months in tag teams on Smackdown, and Zoe realised the girl was using Barbara and her affiliation with Laurinaitis to get more screen time especially on the main show of Raw. Stephanie McMahon had been first to pick up on it, when the Diva turned up unannounced to a Raw show. Within the hour, Laurinaitis was pushing for her to be appearing on Raw, despite the fact she was signed to Smackdown. It was a horrible idea to go with in the first place. They already had too many Divas with absolutely nothing to do, and now there was one more pushing for main event status. Zoe's eyes caught sight of Beth stepping out of her changing area, and she grinned, "See you look fine."

"If I could find my legs under here, I would kick you."

"Trust me, next week will be better."

The colour from Elizabeth's face vanished, "Not another fancy dress battle royal!"

Zoe clicked her tongue against her teeth, "You get to staunch Kelly in the ring." Beth raised an eyebrow, and Zoe continued, "She'll be promoting her Maxim cover in the ring. Laurinaitis asked that we at least give her that opportunity. He never said you girls couldn't crash the party."

Eve folded her arms over her chest, a pout forming on her lips, "I don't understand why they get all the fun."

Zoe picked up her folder of notes from the chair, hugging it tightly to her chest. She smiled at the girls, moving to leave the costume area, "You get your fun at Survivor Series. I need a match that will prove to the rest of this company that you girls deserve more time than they are granting you." Her heels clicked against the concrete floor, as she made her way down the corridor, calling over her shoulder, "Make me proud!"

* * *

><p><span>November 6, 2011<span>

"Maybe I should've asked politely but the one thing I know is that being the weasly, slimy, greasy-"

"I am not greasy!"

Zoe Winters smacked herself on her forehead with the script of the Liverpool Raw show. She was currently sitting ringside, her legs resting up against the barricade, watching as the Superstars and Divas ran through the show one last time before the taping that night. CM Punk and Alberto were running through their promo together, whilst the other Superstars waited around the ring area for their turn to run through their matches or spots. She rolled her eyes as Alberto and Punk continued to argue over Punk's new addition to the script. "Seriously, guys! I don't have all day!"

Alberto held his arms up by his sides, "I don't appreciate the greasy remark!"

Zoe waved her script, "Ok, one more time, from the top, and Punk, for the love of god, please do it properly."

She didn't trust the smirk he shot her, and watched in amusement as Punk repeated the line, greasy word and all. She snorted, hiding her face behind the script, and waved them to continue despite the fact that Alberto was kicking Punk in the shins inbetween his lines. She flicked through the run sheet for Raw, taking in what was happening next on the show before a voice broke through her thoughts.

"How you doing?"

Her dark eyes looked up to the smiling face of Matt Cardona, and she pushed her tongue into her cheek at the cheeky look in his eyes. Flashing him a smile, she shook her head laughing, "Hey, Matt."

Two hands reached out from behind Matt, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to yank him backwards, and Zoe laughed at the scowl on John's face, as he pushed Matt to the side, "Do not make me go get Eve." Matt waved at her from behind John, and Zoe bit back a laugh at the tired expression on John's face. He rubbed a hand over his face, "The trainers won't let me sedate him."

Zoe patted the seat beside her, and John vaulted the barricade, settling into the seat next to her. She grinned at him, patting his cheek, "Leave him alone, he's excited that he's maineventing."

John watched as Matt skidded across the side of the ring, tackling Mike Mizanin to the ground. He winced as Mike grabbed Matt in a headlock, choking him, "He's like a child. He gets excited over maineventing and excited over anything wearing a skirt." It was true. Zoe had seen first hand how excited Matt was for his character of Zack Ryder to be making the main event of Raw. The entire plane ride to England had been the loudest one she experienced, with the Long Island Iced-Z celebrating on the flight after receiving the news that he would be tag-teaming with John Cena. While she had failed to get any sleep, Zoe was kept amused by the child-like antics of the young man. A smile had made its way onto her face, as she had listened to him go on and on about how proud his dad was. She felt happy that her idea for change was kickstarting already.

The dark haired girl laughed at the pained expression on John's face, turning her attention back to the promo occurring in the ring. Punk and Alberto del Rio finished, and stepped out of the ring, moving to the area where Zoe was sitting. She nodded at them, "Good work, guys. It sounds really good."

Alberto shot a glare at Punk, "Yes, most of it does." He paused, leaning over the barrier, lowering his voice, "I have some ideas for you, if you need any help." Zoe shot him a curious look, and Alberto shrugged, "We all know. Laurinaitis came and spoke with me. I didn't like his ideas, but I'm sure you'll be interested to hear them."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, before grabbing her bag to rummage through it for a scrap of paper. She scribbled her phone number on it, and passed it to Alberto, "Call me later, and I'll try and get you to come to see the Creative team, or Stephanie and help us out."

Alberto grinned at her, pushing back off the barricade, and headed out of the ring area, calling over his shoulder, "And that gentlemen, is how you get a lady's number."

Zoe buried her face into John's shoulder, as he burst into laughter, his body shaking. The young woman lifted her face from his shoulder, her cheeks burning with embarassment, and her eyes met Punk's amused ones. He smirked, "Told you he was greasy."

"Berto is screaming something about having your number, are you cheating on me?"

Zoe beamed at the arrival of the Divas known as Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Natalya pushed John's shoulder, making him move over as the two made themselves comfortable on either side of Zoe. John and Punk shared a look. They weren't appearing on the show tonight. They had no business to be ringside. John's eyes scanned the arena, and he noticed the Diva known as Kelly Kelly making her way to the ring, to practice her Maxim unveiling. He groaned, turning to look at the two Divas of Doom beside him, "What did you three do now?"

Beth tilted her head, batting her eyelashes at the former WWE Champion, "Why do you ask?"

John nodded towards Barbara Blank. The tall blonde was practicing her speech for the Maxim cover unveiling. John Laurinaitis had pushed for the Divas match to be replaced with this segment instead. Zoe, and the Creative team, had allowed it, considering it gave them the opening to do something different. Zoe had approached Beth and Natalya to make an appearance during the segment, however, neither John Laurinaitis, Kelly Kelly, or any one else knew about the new plans. John Cena had been present during a few of the Divas of Doom's meetings with his cousin. He knew their concerns. He didn't blame them at all. They were being continuously pushed aside for the younger models. It was no secret that Barbara Blank had almost no interest in wrestling at all. The only reason she took the job was because she had been promised it would help boost her modelling career. Unfortunately, that somehow translated into being the pinup girl for the WWE Divas and she was suddenly being pushed to be Champion, despite having no wrestling skills at all. He bit back a grin as Natalya hid her phone discreetly, so she could record the speech Barbara was making. He raised an eyebrow at Zoe for an explanation, and she smirked at him, "Laurinaitis never said they couldn't interrupt."

"Philip, move out of my way. You are blocking my view."

"Since you asked so politely." CM Punk remained standing in the same spot, in front of Beth's seat, and she reached forward, pushing his shoulder, "I'm not moving till you ask nicely," He singsonged, much to John and Zoe's amusement, and to Beth's frustration.

"You are unbelievable!" muttered Beth, reaching forward to wrap her arms around his head, blocking his vision. The Straight Edge Superstar was not anticipating the move by the Glamazon, and he flailed his arms wildly, trying to pry her arms off his head.

"Are you guys serious? I'm trying to get perfect here."

Natalya scoffed, "Honey, you're going to need much more time to get anywhere near perfect."

The new Maxim covergirl narrowed her eyes at the blonde Canadian lounging in the ringside seat. She tossed her long hair over her shoulder, her hip cocked out to the side, "Why are you even here?"

Beth unwrapped her arms from her exboyfriend's head, and shot a smirk at the girl, "We wanted to congratulate you on such a fine achievement."

Barbara hesitated before replying, "Thank you."

Natalya winked at her, "Have fun tonight."

Zoe glanced at the two women beside her, while Kelly Kelly continued with her promo. They both shot her identical smirks, and she handed them a sheet of paper from her bag, "Here's a copy of her promo. Choose the right moment, ladies, I'm counting on you."

* * *

><p>Liverpool, England was ridiculously cold. It was almost ice in the backstage area of the arena, and Zoe Winters was having a hard time believing that the Superstars and Divas parading around in barely anything, couldn't feel the cold at all. She stretched her legs out onto the chair in front of her, watching the monitors backstage. Her hands clutched the jumper tighter around her. She had managed to swipe one of her cousin's jumpers from his bag, before the show started. All she had brought to the arena was her suit jacket, which was providing her with no warmth at all. She glanced up at the sound of approaching footsteps, and offered a half smile at CM Punk, who had just finished his segment in the ring. He took a seat next to her, leaning back with a sigh, and he watched Zoe keep her attention on the screen in front of her.<p>

"You're not running around like normal."

Zoe waved a hand dismissively, "Steph's doing that for me. I'm feeling the jetlag. I'm not used to all this travelling."

Punk nodded, lifting his legs to stretch out on the same chair she was, "You get used to it after a while." A comfortable silence fell over the two. In the past few weeks, since Punk and John had ventured to Boston to pick up the young woman, Punk and Zoe had maintained a civil relationship. Neither was going to forget what had happened all those months ago. Zoe had to admit, she was having a hard time hating him, when he was always around her friends and helping them with the ideas for RAW and the PPVs. They'd had a few arguments that usually resulted in John or Mike separating the two. Punk couldn't understand that Zoe couldn't make him Champion overnight. She had warned him it was going to take time, and eventually he agreed to the whole thing, with only a few choice words about it.

Together they watched Beth and Natalya interrupt Kelly Kelly's Maxim unveiling. Zoe rolled her eyes at Kelly's National Geographic comment. She scoffed, "And she's supposed to be a role model to girls." She wasn't surprised when Alicia Fox and Eve Torres ran in for the save. She also didn't miss the wink Eve sent Natalya. Zoe had plans for Eve as well. She was going to break her away from Kelly Kelly. While Eve wasn't as talented as a wrestler as Beth and Natalya, she had the passion for it, and Zoe wanted her with the Divas of Doom bringing the Divas Division back from the slump it was currently in. Zoe waved at Beth and Natalya as they made their way backstage, and towards the Divas locker room. They had done their job perfectly. Her eyes caught sight of Barbara making her way backstage with Victoria and Eve, and the tall blonde excused herself from the other two, her eyes intent on Zoe.

"Looks like I'm still stepping inside that ring."

Zoe quirked an eyebrow from her seat beside CM Punk. The smug expression on Kelly's face was making it hard for her not to snap, "Thank god, it wasn't to wrestle."

The blonde Diva clenched her jaw, "What is your problem?"

"I don't understand why I have to continuously repeat myself to you, Ms. Blank. How much more simpler would you like me to make it for you?" exclaimed Zoe, folding her arms across her chest, "The Divas Division needs talented women in that ring, wrestling decent matches."

"I am talented."

"You are a talented model, Barb," stated Zoe, "That I'll give you. But you are nothing more than that. Just leave the real wrestling for the real Divas."

Barbara's face changed into a scowl, "You're just jealous."

Zoe looked heavenward, and groaned, "I actually want to hear this. Why, Barb, why am I jealous?"

"Because you couldn't amount to more than a backstage crew member. You're just jealous I get to go out there week after week, while you have to sit back here." She glanced over at Punk, and her lips curled into a smirk, "Trust me, sleeping with him won't work. It didn't work with Beth or Maria, and it won't work with you."

Phil Brooks was thankful he had quick reflexes. The moment he saw Zoe Winters stand from her seat to lunge for Barbara, he jumped up, gripping her around the waist, and pulling her tightly against him. He glared at the young Diva in front of him, "Just get the fuck out of here, Barb." He could feel Zoe struggling against him, and his arms tightened around her, watching as the Diva known as Kelly Kelly walked away with a smug expression on her face. He slowly released his arms, once the Diva had disappeared from their view, and Zoe pushed away from him, spinning on her heel to face him. "What?" He asked, as she glared at him.

The dark haired Creative writer ran a hand through her long hair, "Why did you do that?"

"Save your job?" He shrugged, "No need to thank me." He watched as she glanced around to look for Kelly Kelly, "Just leave her. She's not worth it."

Zoe snorted, "She's not worth anything. I'm going to make sure that dumb bitch is off WWE programming for a while."

Punk sighed, running a hand through his hair as well, "We are having a movie night in Ryder's room tonight."

Zoe paused her internal rant at Kelly Kelly, and looked at Punk, quizzically, "Huh?"

"Movie night at Ryder's. You in?"

Zoe continued to look at him like he had grown a third head, "Where did that come from?"

"I think you need to relax." He shrugged, "You don't need to be letting that stuff get to you." He stepped away from the young woman, making his way to his locker room, "See you after the show!"

* * *

><p>"Michael, I am not watching that ridiculous movie."<p>

Mike Mizanin pouted, his movie choice falling from his hand as his girlfriend of three years scolded him, "But Maryse!"

Eve pushed him to the side, moving to place her movie choice into the DVD player. She stepped over the arguing couple and dropped onto the couch, into the spot beside Zoe Winters. The Colorado native curled up next to Zoe, flashing her a small smile, "I'm glad you came."

Zoe smiled, handing her the bowl of popcorn, "Me too." She watched in amusement as Maryse and Mike continued to argue, before John threw a pillow at them, silencing them. Her cousin was next to her on the couch, his arm draped over the back of the couch behind her. CM Punk was on the floor in front of Zoe, his back resting against the couch. He reached up a hand, waving it around, and Zoe, in that moment, forgot all the animosity between them, and slapped his hand away, laughing. He turned to her with a mock scowl, before reaching over, and plucked the bowl of popcorn away from between her and Eve. Zoe rolled her eyes, kicking his shoulder gently with her foot. Matt made himself comfortable on the floor in front of Eve, and threw another pillow at Mike to shut up. John watched as a smile lit up Zoe's face. Zoe caught him staring at her, and she looked at him, whispering to him while the movie started. "What, Johnny?"

John smiled at her, "You look happy."

Zoe took in the people gathered around her, "It's like being around family."

John paused, "Even if it doesn't work out, you're not going to take off are you?"

Zoe knew what he meant. Their decision to bring about change to the landscape of the WWE was risky. They had so many ideas, and they all knew there might be a chance it wouldn't work. Zoe didn't believe that. She really wanted to make a difference, but as she glanced around at the men and women in the room, she smiled again at John, "Not a chance in the world. This is my life now." She leant her head against his arm, "Besides, if this doesn't work out, I got plenty more ideas."

John Cena grinned, leaning over to kiss her head.

He didn't doubt that for a second.

* * *

><p>AN: Review! I shall have the next one up in two days fingers crossed!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you once again to all the alerts and reviews! Special mention to: StephNexus, CMPunkFan101, Swantongirly, xxcmpunks-secret-loverxx, and Whiteasukalover for taking the time to review! Hope you guys enjoy the next update! I'm trying to update as regular as I can, because I don't want to fall too far behind for Wrestlemania. Enjoy :)

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><p><span>November 12, 2011<span>

With just over a week until Survivor Series, the Executives and members of the Creative and Booking teams, were feeling the pressure. Tickets for the event had sold out after 90 minutes. The news that the Rock was scheduled to perform in a tag team match with his future Wrestlemania opponent was escalating the excitement for the November PPV. The Creative team were not travelling with the House shows over the weekend, and instead were having meetings in the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, to finalise the angles going into Survivor Series, and the storylines that would result from the event. Zoe Winters was beyond exhausted. While she had had a hand in Money in the Bank and Summerslam, she was now pretty much Stephanie McMahon's right hand man, and was overseeing every storyline involved. Zoe had spent the weekend pumped up on coffee to get through the long hours. With the next Raw in Boston, Zoe was relieved to know it was only a short flight to her hometown that Sunday night. All she had to get through was a few meetings with talent. A smile crept to her lips when she realised she would be seeing her cousin after a week, and they would be flying home together.

Stephanie McMahon handed some papers to Zoe, taking the seat beside her, "Our next victims."

Zoe let out a small laugh. Over the past few weeks, she had grown comfortable to work with the McMahon daughter. Unlike her father, she wasn't distracted by the new WWE Network, and instead was onboard with every single storyline that the WWE was working on. After what happened to her husband a few weeks prior, Stephanie was hellbent on exposing John Laurinaitis for the manipulative man that he was. Zoe glanced at the paper, reading the name of the two Superstars, and she groaned, "Whiny and Grumpy."

The McMahon daughter shook her head, chuckling, "Alberto isn't that bad.." The door swung open and Alberto Rodriguez strutted into the room, clad in a nice dress pants and a shirt. Zoe bit back a snort at the look of distaste on Stephanie's face, as CM Punk trailed in behind the Mexican aristocrat. He was wearing his favourite hat, jeans and a tshirt that Zoe was sure had never been ironed in its entire existence. She chewed her lip, keeping her laughter at bay while Stephanie raised an eyebrow at the Straight-Edge superstar. "Imagine if we became like the NFL, and enforced a dress code for all our athletes to wear to and from events.."

Punk's face split into a grin, and he threw the cap he was wearing onto the table, "Better?"

Stephanie scrunched up her nose in horror, "Do you own a brush?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have luscious locks like your husband," quipped Punk, running a hand through his dishevelled hair.

"Anyway, here are the outlines for your match and for the following Raw and where we plan on going with your characters." Stephanie nodded at one of the Creative team members to hand out the papers to the two Superstars seated opposite them. There was a moment of silence as the two men shuffled through the papers, glancing over what was going to happen. Zoe kept her eyes on Punk, and was amused to see his lips twitch into a hint of a smile as she was sure he was reading the part about him being Champion. "Satisfied?"

Punk leaned back in his seat, a quick glance over to Zoe, "It'll do."

Zoe rolled her eyes, leaning forward to grab her coffee. A frown and pout covered her features as she shook the container sideways and realised, with a sigh, that she had no coffee. And there was still another meeting to go after. She caught Punk's amused look, "What?"

"Told you it was a dangerous addiction you had there."

Her hand dropped the coffee cup, flashes of those nights they spent together working on his promos clouding her mind. She pushed her tongue into her cheek, "I can't function without it." She shuffled through her papers, her voice only hesitating for a moment. The hesitation wasn't lost on Punk. He knew what she had been thinking about. A time, when they were friends. Now, it was something different entirely. "Anyway, Punk, you will be champion after Survivor Series. Alberto will get a rematch the next week on Raw. And then slowly we will add Mike to the feud for a triple threat match at TLC."

Alberto and Punk shared a look, their eyebrows raised. Alberto leaned forward, "But Mike is with Ron in their little tag team.."

Zoe glanced over at Stephanie, who sighed, running a hand through her dark hair, "Ron has been suspended for 30 days."

Punk scoffed, "Oh so you finally realised he was with Matt smoking weed." At Stephanie's hesitation, Punk shook his head, "You already knew but he was already main eventing Survivor Series. Is it the higher up the food chain we are, that we get more leniency?"

Stephanie pursed her lips, her hand reaching up to pinch her nose, "Save your sermons for another time, Brooks."

The Superstar leant back in his seat, "So what happens at TLC?"

"We haven't got that far ahead."

"We're not going to play hot potato with the title," explained Zoe, as Stephanie took a sip from her own coffee, "You'll have a long title reign, Punk." As Stephanie took over the meeting, explaining to the two of them the details of their feud and match, and what was expected from them, Zoe looked through her own papers, her head down. She glanced up and noticed a pair of hazel eyes occasionally glancing at her, and she furrowed her brow. With a curious look on her face, Zoe mouthed a question to him, "What?"

Surprisingly, the two words she understood he said, made her smile.

Just a little bit.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>There was a ten minute break between the meetings of Punk and Alberto, and the next one. There was no time to leave the room, and Zoe was craving her coffee badly. Papers were all over the desk, and her and another team member were throwing them at each other, laughing, as they tried to sort through the mess. Stephanie was trying to conduct a phonecall with her husband, who was at home with the girls. She shot a look at her two employees and Zoe smiled innocently, throwing some papers into a folder. The door creaked open, and Zoe smiled broadly when her cousin made his way into the room, and he grinned back at her, taking a seat opposite her. He swung his legs under the table to kick her and Zoe threw her empty coffee cup at him, taking her seat. He lobbed it into the bin beside him, and sent an angelic grin to Stephanie McMahon, who had watched the exchange with much amusement, "When you two are ready.." She made to start again, before the door swung open, and CM Punk came running in. Stephanie blinked in wonder as the soon to be Champion hurried in and placed a coffee in front of Zoe, before running out.<p>

There was a moment of silence and everyone looked slightly amused at the blush rising to Zoe's cheeks. She stumbled over her words, before groaning and grabbing the coffee to take a sip out of it.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow at the blushing girl, clicking her tongue against her teeth, "Not even Paul does that for me."

* * *

><p><span>November 14, 2011<span>

"John Cena! Stop trying to injure Randy! Elaine will kill me!"

John pouted, "It's like I don't exist to you sometimes, woman."

"What did you say?"

John Cena shot an innocent grin towards his exasperated mother, who was standing on the porch of her house, watching as John, Randy, Mike and Punk ran around the backyard, playing football. In Mike's case, it was more run around screaming while Punk attempted to kill him. Other Superstars and Divas, such as Matt, Beth, Natalya, Kofi, Cody and Eve had been invited over after the Raw show for a late night BBQ. They all had late flights the next day, and most of them were exhausted from the show. Despite the fact it was nearing midnight, they were all still up, drinking and eating, enjoying the time off before the promotional circuit began for Survivor Series. Raw had gone well in Boston. The only hiccup was a last minute change in booking, and Natalya ended up losing to Kelly Kelly. The Divas of Doom didn't protest, because they knew what was coming at Survivor Series, and they knew that Laurinaitis had probably instigated the change as punishment for the week before. Their ambush on the unveiling of Kelly Kelly's Maxim shoot was causing a few Divas to speak up, and Stephanie McMahon was in the process of confirming a Lumberjill match for the Title match.

Zoe gripped the beer in her hand, lazily, a smile curling her lips as she watched the action in front of her. While Eve, Beth and Natalya continued playing football with the boys, Zoe had firmly planted herself on the steps of the porch, content with watching the game instead. She wasn't as strong as the other girls, and had already been winded by Cody, who adamently apologised for the collision. Sitting on the steps alone, she realised she missed Maryse. The ex-Diva was still in Los Angeles, completing a few modelling gigs, and wasn't coming to visit them until Survivor Series, the next week. Feeling half-buzzed already, she smiled crookedly as Randy speared Punk to the ground. Randy stood up, while Punk groaned, rolling over and pulling himself up. Waving a hand at his friends, he stumbled to the steps and squeezed himself in the small space next to Zoe. He rested his arms on the steps behind him, and rolled his head side to side with a groan.

"This is what happens when you play with an intoxicated Randall."

The dark haired girl seated next to him giggled, before leaning over to grab a water from the ice bucket next to her, "Here, you baby."

Punk opened the bottle quickly, sculling half of it. He put the cap back on and tossed it to his side. He glanced at her beer, "Are you even legal to drink?"

Zoe poked her tongue out at the teasing tone of Punk, which caused him to let out a bark of laughter, "Turn 23 on Sunday."

He raised an eyebrow, "Didn't realise it was your birthday."

"Why would you?" drawled Zoe, her attention back on the game. She snorted, "We don't talk."

Punk sighed, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. He had apologised a few times whenever he had snapped at her. But he knew it wasn't enough. The same went for her. Since June 27th, their relationship had been strained and they were both too stubborn to admit what they had done wrong that day. Or even that week leading up to it. They had their moments where a glimmer of their past friendship came through. That day in Connecticut, he had no idea what possesed him to buy the coffee. Maybe part of him wanted to forgive and forget. He wasn't sure. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes focused on her, "You have to understand-"

"I get it, Punk." Her voice was quiet, her eyes never leaving the game, "I get it. After being with you all on the road and seeing first hand what's been going on, I get why you did it. But I need you to understand why I couldn't help you that night. It's my job, Punk. While you're happy to risk yours, I didn't want to risk mine."

Punk nodded, "I know, Zo'. I just wanted things to be set straight, and I shouldn't have put that pressure on you."

Zoe put a hand on his arm, stopping his rant, "Punk, honestly, forget it." She removed her hand, waving it in front of her, "I'm so over it. I've been so happy here since I came back. I'd rather forget that summer, as exciting as it was though."

Punk's face fell, "Yeah we will forget it."

"Not the good stuff."

His hazel eyes caught hers, and she showed him a lazy smile, "The good stuff?"

Zoe took a swig from her almost empty beer, "I got to hit you." She laughed, tossing the beer in the bin nearby. Her dark hair swung in her face, as she turned her head to face him, her cheeks red from drinking, "Remember when we hid all of John's Cenation shirts?"

Punk chuckled, his hand rubbing his chin, "We did the world a service I think."

The young brunette girl turned her head back to watch the game, a sigh leaving her lips, "We were good friends, Punk. I hate what you became. I hate what we both did." Her eyes glanced at him, quickly, "Maybe one day, we'll be alright. If you want."

He moved his knee to bump her leg, and she turned to him, smiling when she saw his own small grin, "One day."

A roar broke the moment between the two, and Zoe turned to see Mike celebrate scoring a touchdown. Shaking her head, she stood up, dusting off her pants, and she swayed a little, a giggle escaping her again, "Oh dear." Her head tilted to the side, "I don't hate you. You're an asshole. But you're an alright asshole." Her teasing tone made Punk smile, and he chuckled at her intoxicated appearance. She leaned forward, reaching for his hands to pull him up, "C'mon Punk, I feel like playing again." She felt his fingers grip her hips for a moment as he stood up, and she leaned into him, "Not going to tell me the bad things about alcohol, are you?"

Punk looked down at her, his tongue slightly poking out from between his teeth as he smiled at her, "I'm sure you'll figure out that for yourself, soon enough."

* * *

><p><span>November 20, 2011<span>

"That was fucking amazing!"

At her blunt exclamation, Paul Levesque's body shook with laughter, his face buried into his hands, as Zoe Winters congratulated Beth and Eve on their match. While Beth had retained the title, the two had performed exceptionally, and managed to create an amazing spot, when Beth did the Glam Slam from the top rope.

"I have to agree. Fucking amazing."

Even Zoe had to grin at her employer's words. Stephanie McMahon hugged the two Divas, shooting an exasperated look at her husband, who looked ready to burst into hysterics.

"Thanks, Stephanie. We really wanted to show what the Divas' Division can do."

Stephanie nodded, folding her arms across her chest, "It's very promising. Hopefully, we can grab some of the more athletic Divas from Smackdown on board, and work across both brands. It should set up some interesting feuds."

The two Divas shared a grin. Beth nodded at the Executives in front of her, "Thank you so much." She turned to leave, before calling over her shoulder at Zoe, "I'll find you later!"

Zoe waved at her friends, a broad smile on her face. She stood beside Stephanie, a satisfied sigh leaving her, "We did good."

The youngest McMahon child smirked, "Two matches in and nothing has gone wrong!"

Paul Levesque groaned from behind them, "Seriously, Stephanie, now that you've said that, something is bound to go wrong!"

Zoe rolled her eyes, her attention back on the screens near by, "Trust me, everything is booked to perfection. What could possibly go wrong?" While the three continued watching on the monitors, they noticed someone dart pass quickly. Zoe and Stephanie shared a look, before spinning around to stare at Paul. The former Champion was sitting there, wide eyed and a crooked grin forming on his face. He pointed after the man who had just run past.

"Was that Howard Finkel?"

* * *

><p>Never had she seen one golden belt give someone so much happiness. Zoe couldn't help the broad smile that lit up her face, as she watched CM Punk celebrate with the crowd after his win over Alberto Del Rio. The guy was a dork. His face was priceless as he dove into the crowds, lapping up the celebrations as the new WWE Champion. Her attention was undivided, that she didn't realise that Beth and Natalya had sidled up next to her. It took her a moment before she noticed the two grins on their faces and she rolled her eyes.<p>

"I don't trust the grin, Elizabeth." She glanced at the identical grin on Natalya's face and continued dryly, "I've seen it before."

"And I've seen that look before. Trust me, undressing him with your eyes is nothing compared to the real thing."

Zoe coughed, her eyes widening, "Oh my god."

Natalya laughed, "Hey, you never heard them."

Zoe covered her ears, "This is a conversation I don't want to hear. Besides, Punk and I are still trying to be friends again." She looked at the Diva's Champion, "Are you even supposed to be pimping him out? You're his ex girlfriend."

Beth laughed, "It's fine. We're over it. We are better off as friends, like we've always been." She pinched Zoe's arm, "He's a good guy. Underneath the pigheadedness he shows here at work, he's a nice guy." Her eyes darted to the appearance of Punk from the gorilla area, and she threw a wink at Zoe, "Go on, congratulate him."

The two divas disappeared, leaving Zoe there, her face slightly red from the embarrassing conversation she had just had. To make matters worse, Punk had finished being congratulated by everyone and was making his way towards her, the WWE title slung over his shoulder. His hair was messed up, and he was wiping down the sweat off his body with a towel. Zoe chewed her lip, her arms folded across her chest. He grinned at her, stopping right in front of her, "No interference to lose my title?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, "It's a bit predictable now. Maybe we will pull a Christian and you lose your title tomorrow night."

Punk's face fell, and he narrowed his eyes at her, "Really?"

The dark haired girl bit back a laugh, "Really?"

He shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips. Reaching out, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and started guiding her down the corridor to his shared locker room with Cena and some of the other wrestlers. The smile on his face broadened slightly as she wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning into him. "Come celebrate with us tonight, unless you're having drinks with the board."

Zoe scoffed, "I just made the anti-hero the WWE Champion. I'm pretty sure I'm the last person they want there while they drown their sorrows."

He looked down at her with a crooked grin, "Good." He kept her close against him as they walked and he chuckled to himself, "This isn't your first Survivor Series, is it?" Punk saw the red stain her cheeks and he grinned to himself, "If I remember correctly, 2006 Survivor Series, you were busy stalking Randy backstage, but got stuck with me instead."

Zoe pouted, "Worst trade-off ever."

"I thought you liked my tattoos."

She grinned, "They'll do." Zoe ducked out from under his arm, and stepped backwards, "I need to stay out the front for Cena's match."

Punk nodded, "Tonight?"

"I promise." As Punk watched her hurry back down the hallway, he smiled to himself. This time, he knew that was a promise she was keeping.

And this time, he did care.

* * *

><p>The Creative Team knew it was a risky move to invite the Rock back for Survivor Series. They were risking the chance he could get injured before Wrestlemania. But they were assured he was match fit, and the match had been booked enough so there was no high risk moves for him. While a group of them, including Stephanie McMahon, Zoe Winters and Paul Levesque watched from backstage, they each realised the same thing. The crowd wasn't reacting well to John Cena. It was no secret in the WWE that John Cena may be the poster boy, but he was not overly liked by the majority of fans in the WWE Universe. Not only that, but it seemed that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson wasn't too happy working with John either. The team had asked for tension. This tension was something much more, and seemed all too real. The match ended with a favourable booking of The Rock getting the pin over Miz. Zoe moved closer to the edge of her seat, watching in interest as John didn't join the Great One in the ring for post match celebrations.<p>

"What is he doing?" said Zoe, quietly. Her cousin was making his way up the ramp, shaking hands with a few fans, and applauding the Rock for a moment. She cast a glance at Stephanie, who shrugged.

Paul raised an eyebrow, "Cena seems to be letting him have his moment."

Out in the ring, the Rock beckoned for Cena to join him in the ring again. Zoe realised what he was doing, and shook her head, "No, John, don't.." The Creative team, and the other wrestlers in the monitor bay, watched as John Cena was booed mercilessly by the WWE Universe, when he stood on the turnbuckles. Even though they were all watching on a monitor, no one could ignore the embarassed look on John's face. Zoe didn't understand why John continued to get up on another turnbuckle, and get jeered at again by the crowd. The Rock was humiliating him in front of the world.

"Remember how I said nothing would go wrong.." The nervousness in Stephanie's voice didn't go undetected, and they all flinched when the Rock grabbed Cena and performed a Rock Bottom on him. It wasn't scripted, but the crowd went crazy over it anyway. The head of Creative sighed, running a hand through her hair, "We have to do something about that. Cena can't go into Wrestlemania the most hated man in the world."

Zoe nodded, "At the end of the day, he's the one that's going to show up on Raw the next day. Dwayne is just going to go back to Hollywood."

Paul had a look on his face that made Stephanie McMahon lean over and slap him across the shoulder, "Yes, I know Paul. You told me so." She groaned, standing up from her seat, "You know my father but. He wanted the greatest show on Earth. He's going to get it, but not at the expense of burying our current posterboy."

Zoe's eyes flickered back to the screen, where recaps were being shown of all the victories during the night. Turning back to the couple, she got an idea, "Maybe, it's about time we changed that."

Stephanie furrowed her brow, "We're already not making him Champion. I'm not going to get rid of him for good. He's pretty much the main event."

"That's the problem!" exclaimed Zoe, standing up, "We need to give John a break. He will still be on television. But no more main eventing. No more high profile stars. He's getting put into a routine storyline."

Paul grinned from his seat, "I knew there was a reason why I liked you." He stood up as well, wrapping an arm around his wife, "Think about it, Stephanie. The whole world is sick of John being shoved down their throats. And I don't blame them. Let's give the kid a break for a bit. You know how much it kills him going out there like that."

Stephanie McMahon let a small smile grace her face, "Fine. We will work on something new for John." She glanced at her watch, "Starting tomorrow because I'm exhausted and I miss my daughters." She pulled on the sleeve of her husband's jacket, "C'mon Paul, let's go. Goodnight, Zoe."

Zoe grinned to herself. Now for the next phase of her plan for change.

* * *

><p>"Elizabeth, I don't like the way you are accosting me- OW!"<p>

"Sorry!"

"Sorry?" screeched Zoe, her arms flailing wildly at her friend, "Are you sure I'm not the only one wearing a blindfold?"

Natalya chuckled, "No, we're all seeing."

"That's reassuring, considering you just walked me into a wall."

Beth pinched her hip, emitting a squeal from Zoe, "We're almost there, be quiet!"

Zoe had gotten ready for their usual movie night after the PPV. As she went to go get Beth and Natalya from their hotel room, they grabbed her, wrapping a cloth around her eyes, and pushed her down the corridor. She had no idea where they were going. The only reassurance she had was that they were still in the hotel, as they had travelled a while down the corridor to the other side of the building. She reached out a leg to kick Natalya, "Tell me!"

Natalya grinned, rapping her knuckles against the door in front of her, "No chance, Princess."

The door swung open, and Beth pushed Zoe inside the dark room. She flicked off the blindfold, and Zoe jumped in shock at the sight in front of her.

"SURPRISE!"

Zoe covered her mouth, a shocked look on her face. There, in her cousin's hotel room, was a group of Superstars and Divas. The room was decorated with Happy Birthday banners and balloons, and to the right, there was a table of food and a large cake in the middle of it. Tears pricked her eyes, as Zoe spotted Maryse push past Mike to run towards her. Laughing, the Creative Writer hugged her friend tightly. She hadn't seen her at the PPV, and Mike had told her she had a delayed flight. Pulling back from Maryse, Zoe smiled shakily at her, "I missed you!"

Maryse smiled, reaching a hand up to tuck Zoe's stray hair behind her ear, "Et moi, Zoe. I've been busy here setting up your party. Tu aime?"

"I love it," said Zoe, quietly. She spun around and hugged the Divas of Doom, standing behind her, "Thank you so much!"

"It was nothing, honey. Happy Birthday!" exclaimed Beth. She pushed Zoe forward, "Now c'mon, go be the Birthday girl."

Zoe was soon swept up in a hug from Randy. The Viper swung her around, her feet lifting off the ground. She squealed, "Randall!"

"Happy birthday, Zo!" He set her back down on the floor, pulling her to his side in a one armed hug, "You thought you could get that past us, didn't you? You know you have a loud mouth cousin," teased Randy. Zoe barely got to catch her breath before she was hugged and wished Happy Birthday by many more of the Superstars in the large hotel room. The benefits of being the poster boy of the WWE meant that John got an upgraded room that was large enough to fit all of them in there comfortably. While she was tossed around between Superstars and Divas, Zoe finally caught sight of her cousin, and she leapt up to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug.

John Cena grinned, hugging his cousin tightly against him. He set her on the ground, pulling her to his side, just like Randy had done, "Happy Birthday, baby girl." He felt Zoe bury her head in his side, and he looked down to see her wiping tears away, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Zoe, smiling. She brushed the tears away, "Thank you so much." Her eyes scanned the room, and all the people in it. Her smile broadened as Mike turned on an iPod speaker and started what she assumed was dancing. She never knew with Miz. "I get why you love it here. And every week, I'm loving it more."

"Sorry to break up the Hallmark moment, here."

Zoe rolled her eyes, laughing, at the intrusion, "What, Punk?"

"Happy Birthday, Zoe."

She smiled at him, noticing that John had shuffled away from the duo. She sent a look his way, only to receive a cheesy grin back. Her eyes looked back at Punk, and she raised an eyebrow at the absense of a sparkling belt on his shoulder, "I thought you wouldn't part with that Championship, you love it so much."

Punk smirked, "It's under lock and key. Too many drunk people. Can't risk my baby getting stolen."

Zoe laughed, shaking her head, "Jesus, you're special."

"I'm special? You once thought I propositioned you for a threesome with Steve Austin!"

Zoe shook her head again, lauging at the memory, "Told you we had some good times."

Punk nodded, "We did." He stepped back, to face the party, "Now, go enjoy your party, birthday girl. I saw Mike make some shots earlier. If he hasn't already drunk half of them, and judging by his dancing I think he has, you should go try some." He waited for Zoe to move away from him, and when she didn't, he turned to her, raising an eyebrow, "Zo?"

The small dark haired girl reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you." She smiled as she felt him slide his arms around her waist, and she lifted her head to look at him, "Baby steps, Punk. I'm sure we will be back to normal." She stepped back from him, and made her way to the Divas surrounding the table of alcohol. Punk watched her go, and didn't notice that Randy Orton and John Cena had appeared on either side of him.

"That was cute."

"Shut up, Randall."

* * *

><p>AN: Review my pretties :) and maybe you'll get a quick update!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: A quick update! And maybe another one in a day or two :) Thank you once again to all the alerts and reviews! Special mention to: Kyahbell, Miserlou, MarryTheNight25, WhiteAsukalover, caz21 and The Erumpent Horn for taking the time out to review! Enjoy :)

* * *

><p><span>November 28, 2011<span>

"Hey guys, I thought I heard somebody say come in-"

"This is a private meeting, Punk. It has nothing to do with you."

"156,000"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well you were on Raw a couple of weeks ago bragging about how many twitter followers you had, which I thought was.. cute. So I came up with some numbers of my own." CM Punk pulled out his iPhone and tapped away at the screen, "156,000 is the number of hits you get when you type in Laurinaitis and spineless into google search." His eyes caught sight of Alberto Del Rio muttering something in spanish to his ring announcer, "918,000. That's the number you get when you type in Del Rio and boring into Google search." The new WWE Champion smirked at the unimpressed look on the former Champion's face, "So congratulations, Berto. You're somehow nine times more boring than Johnny here is spineless."

CM Punk caught sight of David Otunga lurking behind John Laurinaitis's shoulder, and smirked, "Oh hey Otunga. I typed your name in, but a bunch of stuff just came up about Jennifer Hudson."

John Laurinaitis pushed David back from lunging at Punk, "Punk-"

"I get it. It's a private meeting. And I know you're all in here dreaming about this world where this safe, vanilla general manager gets back his safe, vanilla champion. But I'm letting you know that I'm not going to let that happen. You listening Harvard? Not going to let that happen. The WWE Title isn't going anywhere."

Stephanie McMahon shared a look with her young assistant, Zoe Winters, as the promo came to an end. John Laurinaitis was more than pleased to have a starring role again on Raw. Much to the delight of the two women, and a majority of the disgruntled Creative team, he was on board with being inserted into the storyline with CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio. Placing him in a storyline kept him occupied and happy. But with some subtle changes in promos on screen, Zoe had a feeling that the more they pushed the buttons of the Board's representative, the more chance they had of exposing him for the manipulative man that he truly was. This promo was their first chance at pushing his buttons slightly. In the meantime, they were still trying to push for their own changes backstage. Zoe could barely contain the grin on her face as John Laurinaitis looked a little unimpressed by the promo Punk had just pulled in the backstage area.

"Ladies, I have to thank you for that. It was extremely well done," said John Laurinaitis as he approached the two women behind the cameras. He paused, his face falling as his eyes settled on Zoe, "I do have to complain about Mr. Brooks. I think he took things a little too far."

Zoe feigned a look of shock, her eyes meeting Stephanie's amused ones, "Mr. Laurinaitis, I'll definitely have a word to him." She sighed, disappointed, "It's just I gave him direction for this promo, telling him to refer to the rivalry that Mr McMahon and Steve Austin had. He may have taken it too far, I'll be sure to tell him-"

"No, no. I didn't realise that was what you were going for." John Laurinaitis's face split into a grin, "I quite like that idea. Seeing myself as an authority figure." He nodded at the two women, "You've done well, ladies. I see you're coming around on all your little change ideas. Like I said, it's best to stick with what we know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a show to run."

Stephanie McMahon looked ready to gag, and Zoe placed a hand over her mouth, giggling as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations left the room. A snort of laughter left the mouth of the McMahon daughter, and she pressed her back to the wall, trying to calm her laughter down. Zoe wasn't doing much better herself, her eyes almost watering. A deep voice broke their moment, and CM Punk looked on amused at the two women, "I work in such a professional environment."

Zoe rolled her eyes, "It's not our fault Johnny is absolutely clueless."

"He actually believes we are trying to recreate the McMahon/Austin rivalry."

"A broomstick has more emotion than him."

Punk snorted, "I'll give you that. So what's this supposed to be? A distraction for him?"

"More or less," explained Stephanie, "Hopefully, he's too worried about ideas for his own character, that we can work with other areas of the program without his knowledge." She glanced at the clock on the wall, "I need to get to the gorilla to see how things are running. I'll find you later, Zoe. Bye, Punk."

The older woman left the room, leaving Zoe and Punk to stand there as the camera crew packed up their gear to leave and move on to the next promo. Zoe headed to the door, not noticing that Punk was following her. She glanced to her side, and raised an eyebrow at the Straight-Edge Superstar, "You're not getting ready for your match?"

Punk shrugged, "I got time." He stopped, prompting Zoe to stop and he turned to face her, "What's with the promos? The ones with the kid?"

Zoe's lips quirked into a small smirk, "Nothing gets past you does it?" Punk looked at her, expectantly, and her smirk widened, "It's all Stephanie's idea. I have really no part in it." The promos were designed to be cryptic and not reveal the return of a wrestler to the Raw program. Truth be told, Zoe really had no idea who was returning. She had her own ideas, and was a bit worried that it was another former wrestler wanting a chance at the title. Stephanie had reassured her, however, that he was not in line for a title shot straight away. But was to bring something different to the program.

She moved past him, and Punk hurried to catch up with her, "I don't believe that for a second."

Zoe shook her head, laughing, as she continued her way down the hallway. She felt a hand grip around her elbow, and Punk spun her around to face him, "Punk, I'm not telling you."

Punk shook his head, "Not about that, Zo'. I have a favour-"

"God knows where that got me last time."

He pushed his tongue into his cheek, "I guess forgiving and forgeting is still a long way to go." Clearing his throat, he continued, "Matt and Bryan." Zoe raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes, "You need to make them champions."

Zoe resisted the urge to smack the new Champion across the head. The amount of times she had told him she could not make miracles happen overnight was getting to be exhausting. By the look on his face, she knew that he wanted his friends as Champions soon. She cocked her hip out to the side, her hands resting on her hips, "I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

Her teeth gritted together in annoyance, "I am not having this arguement with you for the hundredth time, Punk." She shook her head, "Besides, I have no control over Smackdown. Matt will be Champion soon, but I can't work with Bryan."

Punk sighed, angrily, "Pitch the idea to Steph. She takes care of Smackdown too."

Zoe looked heavenward for a moment, "Fine. But you know I can't make radical changes straight away." She paused, a curious look on her face, "Besides, I thought you were on board with Mark Henry getting his time finally after fifteen years."

The Straight-Edge Superstar smirked, "That's just the thing. They're handing the title over at TLC to Paul."

The young Creative writer's face dropped. From one program to another. While she was making a difference here, John Laurinaitis must have shifted his attention to Smackdown. How it had slipped Stephanie's attention was alarming. John Laurinaitis was a step ahead of them again. She shook her head, "Why, Big Show?"

"Company has got to stick with what they know. Right?"

Her hand reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, "Shit. I'll go talk to Stephanie." She pushed past him to find her employer, but stopped to look at him over her shoulder, "Why are you pushing so hard for Bryan and Matt?"

Phil Brooks shifted from foot to foot, his hand running nervously through his hair, "Five years ago, two top dogs took a chance on me and asked me to be a part of their Survivor Series team. I didn't know it at the time, but they pushed hard for the future of ECW to be a part of that night. I feel it's time I returned the favour."

Zoe's lip quirked into a small grin.

There was the old CM Punk.

* * *

><p><span>December 2, 2011<span>

It was becoming alarmingly apparent to Zoe Winters how well she could lie to someone like John Laurinaitis, and his crack team of Creative writers.

Her gag reflex was on heavy duty during the Creative meeting. Jake Ritter, and several other disillusioned employees, were singing the praises of the Executive Vice Presient of Talent Relations. John Laurinaitis could only look on smugly, as the men around him pushed for John's ideas to be implemented in the Raw show. The final script had been done for the show, and last minute changes were being made. Zoe kept her eyes on Laurinaitis as he flicked through the copy of the night's show, and watched with a small amount of satisfaction as his face crumpled into a frown. She knew exactly what he was reading, and readied herself for the response.

"Mr. Laurinaitis, everything alright?"

The older man looked up, his eyes meeting those of Zoe's. He sighed, showing her the page he seemed to be stuck on, "Why is Ryder in a match with Cena?"

She flashed him an easy smile, "Just an easy match for Cena to win. It's part of the competition on Monday Night. Each contender for the title has a match. If they win, they contest the title at TLC." Tilting her head, her smile widening, "I don't want our future Champion to risk injury against anyone else."

John Laurinaitis smiled back at her, "Future Champion?"

Her hair bounced whilst she nodded, confirming the question, "Hopefully, we can come to an agreement that he should be Champion soon."

"I don't understand why you have Ryder having a match again against Mark Henry?" questioned Laurinaitis, flicking to the next page.

Zoe didn't even miss a beat, "Well, since we've built up the idea that Cena and Ryder are friends. Cena will put his opportunity on the line to allow Ryder to get a shot at the US title." She watched as John looked momentarily alarmed, "No sir! If you read further, Ryder is booked to lose the match, thus keeping John's title opportunity in effect."

The Executive Vice President of Talent Relations leaned back in his seat, his arm clasped over his chest, "Miss Winters, you've really stepped up the past two weeks. For a while, I thought we lost you to a crazy cause helping Brooks bring down the WWE." The satisfied smirk on his face made Zoe sick, "You've impressed me, Zoe. I'll be sure to tell the Board of Directors that." He turned to his assistant, Jake Ritter, and missed the faltering smile of Zoe. Her attention was soon changed, when she felt a buzz in her pocket. Pulling out her cellphone, she smirked at the message.

_'Mark's in.'_

* * *

><p><span>December 5, 2011<span>

"Cena is interested in this match. He's got every right to be out here and see the outcome of this match."

"Oh look at this! Mark Henry just flattened the Ruff Ryder!" exclaimed Michael Cole, during the Monday Night Raw broadcast, "And look at Cena! Cena! Remember, there's no disqualification in this match!"

"He's got Henry for an Attitude Adjustment!"

"No! This can't be right! Somebody do something!"

"YES!"

"Zack Ryder finally gets his opportunity for the United States Championship!"

The crowd in Tampa, Florida was going absolutely insane for the outcome of the match. John Cena had interfered in Zack Ryder's match against Mark Henry, causing Zack to have the upset victory over the World Heavyweight Champion. Zoe Winters stood ready in the monitor bay, Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque on either side of her, as they all watched the outcome on the monitors.

"I demand to know what the hell is going on!"

John Laurinaitis was mad as hell. Zoe glanced from the corner of her eyes and noticed the smug smirk on Paul Levesque's face as he turned to face the angry Interim GM. Looking the picture of complete calm, Paul tried to hide the smirk on his face, "Last minute change. I ran it past the booking team. They were fine with it."

Laurinaitis's face was starting to turn red. He spluttered for words, "That man!" He pointed at Matt, who had just returned backstage, "Is not a champion! I should've been told about these changes!"

"Isn't that the beauty of it? It was so exciting because it was unexpected."

The words of the Executive Vice President came back to haunt him, and he paused, shaking his head. His jaw was clenched in anger, "There is no way he will be getting the title at TLC. I can assure you, I will tell the Board."

Stephanie clicked her tongue, "You can also tell the Board that while we will have Matt as United States Champion. Nick's Dolph Ziggler will be pushed into the number one contender position for the WWE Title."

From behind Paul, Zoe watched John Laurinaitis's face calm at the mention of Nick Nemeth. The wrestler known as Dolph Ziggler was a personal favourite of John's, and Stephanie and Zoe had decided, if they were to push Ryder to United States Champion, Ziggler had to move up as well. It was also a favour to Nick for pushing for Matt to be United States Champion as well. The bleach blonde had made it his mission to put over the Long Island Iced-Z. Her eyes flickered to the right, and she caught the eyes of her cousin, who was trying to contain his own grin at the turn of events. Her attention turned back to John Laurinaitis, when he called her name, "You lied to me, Miss Winters, and I believed you."

Zoe feigned a look of innocence, "Sir, I told you the truth. These changes were only last minute-"

"Stop lying to me!" roared the older man, "You knew about this all along."

Paul Levesque stepped forward again, a scowl covering his face, "I can assure you, Miss Winters did not lie to you. We only came to the decision this morning, and she was not there for that meeting. It was between Stephanie and myself."

John Laurinaitis straightened his suit jacket, "I'll be sure to notify the Board of your incompetency to report to me. Vince made a mistake letting you take over-"

Paul smirked, "You do that. And while you're at it, you may have to answer as to your own incompetency for rehiring Kevin Nash without telling anyone, and allowing him to interfere in a PPV event without anyone's knowledge." His smirk only widened as John's face fell once again, "So we're even. Now I'm certain you have a segment in the ring coming up. Wouldn't want you to miss that." As the Executive Vice President turned and left the monitor bay, Paul cast a glance at his wife, "That was risky."

Stephanie returned the smirk, "All part of the plan, Paul." She winked at Zoe, "You look like a nervous wreck, Zoe."

Zoe tried to relax her breathing, "I'm sorry. I had a scare that we'd get caught out." Her head turned when a hand gripped her arm, and she relaxed realising it was John. She leaned against him, her head slowing down from spinning, "That's enough excitement for one night, thank you."

* * *

><p>"Did I mention I'm going to be the United States Champion?"<p>

Eve Torres shot a dark glare at a giggling Zoe Winters. Being in Tampa, Florida, they were near John's house, and John Cena invited Zoe, Eve, Matt and Punk to crash at his place for the night. Liz had prepared some food and drinks for the tired Superstars and Divas, and they were all sprawled across the couches in the Cena's living room. Zoe took a sip from her beer, and shot a smile at Eve. The Diva rolled her eyes, leaning over to smack Matt across the back of the head. The Long Island Iced-Z was overly excited at the prospect of being United States Champion. He had no idea the change was being made, and was ecstatic when Mark Henry had growled in his ear that he was to win the match. He pouted at Eve, who rolled her eyes again, "We get it. You're going to be Champion."

"I don't appreciate your tone, Eve. I thought you'd be more excited for me."

Eve clicked her tongue and responded, dryly, "I was excited the first ten times you told me."

Zoe watched the exchange between the two with much amusement. Her eyes looked up, when Punk lifted her legs, and sat down, dropping her legs into his lap. She poked her tongue out at the Champion, curling up next to him. Punk smirked at her, and leaned over, "Thank you."

She knew he wasn't talking about her moving over for him. She knew it was about the change in titles for Matt. The young brunette looked up at him from under her thick lashes, "You're welcome."

John hugged his wife tighter to him from her spot on his lap, "So what's happening with me, babygirl?"

"You're going to be buried into the lowercard of the roster."

John glared at his cousin, whilst the others burst into laughter. He tried to let the glare hold, but he faltered, his lips twitching into a grin, his dimples on show, "You're a brat."

Zoe sipped her beer, before letting it hang loose by her side, "Next week, Kane's returning." She paused, noticing the curiousity on all their faces, "He's been repackaged into the Kane we all used to know. Mask and all. And now he wants to bring John Cena over to the dark side."

Liz snorted, teasing her husband, "John couldn't even be mean if his life depended on it."

John slapped her leg, gently, "Note to self. Next wife will be more supportive of my career." He looked back at his cousin, "So why am I being taken to the dark side?"

Zoe paused, her gaze dropping. She had only discussed it with Steph and Paul. It was still in the works, but even they both agreed it had to be done. The Rock and Cena were scheduled for Miami in almost four months, and the WWE Universe wasn't going to be cheering the posterboy of the WWE. No, the Creative team needed to get John Cena some respect back, and this seemed to be the first try at doing so. "Because the crowd boos you, we decided we'd work off that with Kane." She noticed John's face fall, "John, please, it won't be so bad!"

John's lips twitched into a small smile, "I trust you. It's been a long time coming for me to address the boos. I was just waiting for someone with the right idea."

"In order to do that but John, you're not going to be Champion for a while." From the corner of her eye, Zoe could see the wheels turning in Punk's head, as all this information sunk in, "No more SuperCena routine. You're pretty much Average Joe right now."

John nodded, "But TLC is in two weeks. Is that enough time to build a feud?"

Zoe chewed her lip. There was that other part she hadn't discussed with her cousin yet. "You're not appearing at TLC." At everyone's quizzical look, she sighed, "We want to see how the new generation of Superstars can carry a PPV on their own."

"Rad. That's why they call me the best in the world."

Matt snorted at his friend, "No, only you call yourself that, jerk."

* * *

><p><span>December 12, 2011<span>

"I don't understand why we don't muzzle him."

Stephanie McMahon bit back a laugh at her exasperated husband, her eyes focused on the monitor in front of her. As hilarious as Punk's acceptance speech for his Pipe Bomb Slammy Award, she couldn't help but think that it was a tiny bit risky. Sure, they wanted to break John Laurinaitis, but the doll and the tribute video was quite possibly not the right way to go about it. Her husband beside her wasn't looking impressed, though she swore she saw a hint of a smile when the video played. She had no idea where they got that footage from, but she had to hand it to the production crew. They were amazing. And clearly held some sort of resentment for the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. Her eyes glanced to her left, and she rolled her eyes at the look on Zoe's face, "Oh Zoe, relax, it will be fine."

"I have to agree with your husband. Make a muzzle part of his ring attire." Paul sent her a wink over the top of Stephanie's head and Zoe grinned at him, "Seriously, that was risky. Hilarious, but risky." Zoe saw Punk come through the gorilla area, and made a move to follow him, "I'll be back soon, Steph!" She called over her shoulder. While trying to run after the Champion in her heels, Zoe caught him going into his locker room, and she pushed the door open to follow him inside, "Punk!"

Punk turned around, a shit eating grin on his face, "Zoe, did you enjoy the show?"

The young Creative writer didn't look amused, as she stood with her arms folded across her chest, "You publicly berated a man, Punk. You made a mockery of his career."

Punk folded his arms across his chest, "He tried and is still trying to ruin mine."

Zoe ran a hand through her hair. She was so tired of this drama. "I know," She whispered quietly, "But everything is going to plan. We are going to get him, Punk."

"C'mon, it was a bit of fun. Admit it, you loved it." He watched as her lips quirked up, and he smiled, "See! I told you!" His head snapped up at the sound of the door opening, and his face dropped slightly.

"Philip Brooks, Jesus it's been a while."

Zoe wasn't a fan that was interested in the backstage romance drama of the WWE, but the way Amy Dumas currently had her arms wrapped around a hesitant Punk, she knew that those rumours of them two had been true. Pursing her lips at the interruption, she looked elsewhere while Amy stepped back from Punk, a smile on her face. Zoe cleared her throat, "Anyway, Punk, I'll talk to you later."

Punk turned his head to her, his arm pushing Amy away from his body. He nodded at her, a corner of his lips turned upwards. Amy caught sight of Zoe behind Punk, and took a step forward, smiling, "So you're the one changing things up around here."

An embarrassed smile crept up on Zoe's face, "Boy, word does get around here."

The former Diva known as Lita pursed her lips, "You know it will never be what it used to be."

Zoe raised an eyebrow. She knew exactly what Lita was talking about. As a proud former member of the Women's Division at the WWE, she was the last of the kind before the talent pool was flooded with models rather than wrestlers, and she knew exactly how far gone the Diva's Division now was. Zoe shrugged, "We have enough to work with here to make it almost like it was."

Amy chuckled, "See that's the thing. It will always be almost. You've got too many girls that are more interested in the male talent-"

"That's a bit rich coming from you."

Punk's head snapped to attention, and he stepped forward, his hand wrapped around Amy's elbow, pulling her back. Amy shrugged him off, "Listen, it's a lost cause. We left our legacy and those girls are never going to be us."

"You've got Natalya, Tamina, Beth-"

Amy snorted, "That steroid freak. Please, I can't even believe Nora paid for her wrestling school fees."

Punk pulled Amy back, "That steroid freak is my friend." He let go of her arm, and waved her off dismissively, "Seriously, Amy, just.. I'll talk to you later."

The older woman glanced between Punk and Zoe, and pushed her tongue into her cheek, "That's cute."

Punk groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, and he turned to look at Zoe once Amy was out of the room. "Sorry, she's a real.. bitch, sometimes." He caught the look on Zoe's face, and stepped closer to her, a frown on his features, "Zo', you okay?"

Zoe frowned in the direction Amy had taken off in, "Do you think she's right?" Her question was met with silence and she glanced at Punk, "You don't think it can be done, do you?"

Punk chewed on his lip ring, "Look, you can change the Diva division and not make it as pathetic as it is now, but Amy is right. We don't have enough girls to make it like it once was." He paused, noticing the look on Zoe's face, "Zo', c'mon, you're still going to change it up. And it will be better than it was before."

"But it won't be enough," said Zoe, quietly. She pushed a strand of hair, behind her ear, and made to leave the locker room, "I'll see you tonight at IHOP?"

Punk looked up from where he was checking his phone, and chewed his lip again, "Um, maybe, I-"

Zoe tried to not let the disappointment flicker onto her face. Instead, she smiled slightly, "She's a bitch, but she's your friend. Catch up with her. I'll tell the guys you'll see us tomorrow. Goodnight, Punk."

* * *

><p>"This is going straight to my thighs."<p>

Miz groaned, burying his head under a menu, "Good god, it's like Maryse."

Eve leaned over the table, swatting Mike on the head with her menu, "I'll be glad to tell her you said that."

Mike pouted, "You wouldn't dare."

Beth continued her browsing of the menu from beside Eve, "Oh she would, and - OH! Choc chip pancakes!" She nudged Zoe next to her, "What are you getting?"

Natalya had flown out straight away to the next city for Smackdown, so Zoe had invited Beth along to their weekly rituals. They decided it was a night to forgo movies, and instead they were at IHOP, having a cheat meal. Zoe grinned from beside Beth, and glanced up at John opposite her in the round booth, "Waffles?"

John frowned, "There's too many choices!"

After much deliberation, and arguing, they all finally ordered, and were quickly served their food. Zoe, Beth and Eve looked on in disgust as Mike, Matt and John dug into their food. Zoe shot a look at Beth, "Are they breathing in between mouthfuls?"

Beth leaned over, using her fork to snatch some of Matt's food. She squealed, when Matt swatted at her hand. Leaning back, laughing, she shook her head, "Guys, seriously, what is the rush!"

Matt grinned, a mouthful of food, "No rush. Hey, by the way, where exactly is the voice of the voiceless tonight?"

Zoe shrugged, "He's out with Amy Dumas, I think." There was a simultanenous groan, and she looked at them, amused, "Wow, guys, really?"

"Really." said Mike. "She's a royal pain in the- Hey, Punk!"

Zoe spun around, her eyes catching sight of CM Punk making his way into IHOP in his street clothes. He smirked at them, sliding into the space next to Zoe, "Sorry, I'm late guys."

John raised an eyebrow, a small smile on his face, "No other plans?"

Punk shook his head, his lips quirking, "Nah, man. This is where I want to be." Much to Zoe's protests, he grabbed her fork and had a bite of her nutella crepes. Whilst the others turned their attention back to their meals, he handed the fork back to her, a smirk dancing on his lips, "What?"

"Thought you had plans," whispered Zoe, quietly to him.

The WWE Champion grabbed a fork from the empty table behind him, and slung an arm around Zoe, his other arm grabbing a forkfull of crepes. He winked at her, "Like I said, this is where I'd rather be."

Zoe returned the smile he sent her. She caught John's wink at her from across the table and she poked her tongue out. Maybe things with Punk would start turning out alright.

Just, maybe.

* * *

><p>AN: Review my pretties and maybe you'll get a quick update. Just, maybe!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Yes, it's a quick update, because I'm feeling nice :) Thank you once again to all the alerts and reviews! Special mention to: CenaRKO1986, MarryTheNight25, The Erumpent Horn, Miserlou and StephNexus for taking the time out to review! Enjoy :)

* * *

><p><span>December 19, 2011<span>

Baltimore, Maryland was the home of the Table, Ladders and Chairs PPV for 2011. The event was sold out, and backstage, everyone was going crazy preparing for the event. True to her word, Zoe Winters had advised the booking team that John Cena was not to be placed in any matches. One booker had attempted to write him in as an interference for Zack Ryder's match. That booker eventually felt the wrath of Zoe, who made it clear to everyone that all winners tonight were to win cleanly no matter what. Not one person was to be booked weak at all. As the PPV event started, backstage was busy with many of the backstage crew running around, trying to ensure that for once, this PPV wouldn't provide any unwanted surprises. Zoe could hear the roar of the crowd from backstage, and a smile grew on her face as she knew the match at the moment would be a crowd favourite. While making a dash through the monitor bay to find Stephanie, she paused, her eyes finding a monitor to watch the match. Her smile grew even more as the final pin was made, and a new champion was announced.

"God, that kid is a massive dork."

Zoe elbowed her cousin in the stomach, while he threw an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side, "Leave him alone."

John Cena smiled, his dimples on show, "I'm just saying. Do you know how excited he's going to be- Oh my god, is that his father? Wow, now I know where he gets it from."

The dark haired woman chuckled, resting her head against her cousin's strong body. She let her eyes linger on the monitor, watching the new United States Champion, Zack Ryder, celebrate his victory with his father. The scene melted her heart a little. She had gotten Paul Levesque to organise the tickets for Mr. Cardona. The nervous father of the Internet Sensation had no idea his son was scheduled to win. Right now, the man was so excited, his face alight with happiness at his son's win. As the event rushed to a small break in between the matches, Zoe made to move from John's side, but he kept her tight against him. She scowled, "Johnny, c'mon, I've got work to do."

"I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"

Zoe barely had time to react before Matt Cardona had run backstage and grabbed her in a hug, spinning her around. She squealed, clutching to his neck tightly. "Put me down this instant!"

"Cardona, stop manhandling the employees."

Zoe sent an appreciative look to the COO of the company, as he breezed past the three. Her feet landed firmly on the ground and she scowled for a moment at Matt, his hand reaching to cop a feel of her ass. "Stop it!" A giggle escaped her lips, and she blushed at the attention from the United States Champion.

John swatted the back of Matt's head, "Down boy." His eyes trailed to the title belt wrapped over Matt's shoulder, "Congratulations, Ryder. You did good."

Matt grinned, goofily at the sentiment. He looked at Zoe, his grin still in place, "Thank you."

Zoe shook her head, "It wasn't me. Thank Nick and Punk. They really pushed for you, Matt." She winked at him, "Now go celebrate. We'll see you later tonight." Her laughter was drowned out as the new Champion ran past them, screaming his signature phrase. Zoe waved at her cousin, "I'll find you later, I've got some things to do for a bit." Her heels clicked along the concrete floor of the arena, as she made her way down the corridors to find Stephanie McMahon. There were some last minute things that needed to be checked with her before the end of the show, and there was also the issue of finalising the Raw script for the next day. Zoe glanced at her phone, checking the time. Hopefully, she would be done so she could see her friends' matches towards the end of the show. Her head was down, typing a message quickly to her cousin, when she ran straight into a chest. "Shit, sorry!"

Punk smiled at her, his hands on her hips to steady her, "You're in crazy Steph assistant mode aren't you?"

Tossing her dark hair to the side, Zoe rolled her eyes, "Not at the crazy stage.. yet."

His tongue pushed out his lip ring, his smirk firmly planted on his face, as he stepped back, "I assume you saw Matt."

"Manhandled more like it."

"He really needs to get a girlfriend."

Zoe hummed in agreement, "It will definitely mean I get groped a lot less."

His snort echoed down the hallway, "He's all charm, our little Ryder. All charm." The two of them shared a laugh, before a silence fell over the two of them. Punk scratched the back of his neck, readjusting his title belt over his shoulder, "Anyway, I better go finish warming up. And I got to find Ricardo. Mike reckons he's chickened out already." At Zoe's raised eyebrow, Punk realised his error, and flashed her an uneasy grin, "Never mind."

"What did you do?"

Punk smirked, "Only made the match so much more exciting."

She raised a hand to her forehead, "Oh my god, we're going to be on the news. Tell me it's nothing drastic." His smirk only got wider, and her own eyes widened, "I don't even know if I want to know anymore." She stepped to the side, to continue her way down the hall, "Good luck, Punk."

"Luck is for losers."

Zoe stopped, and turned to face the older man. With a grin on her face, she stepped closer to him, "Would telling you to behave be more appropriate?" Punk only smirked, and she shook her head, laughing before rising on her tiptoes, to wrap her arms around his neck, "Have fun, Punk. I'll see you later." Punk watched her go with a smirk still on his face. He watched her disappear down the corridor, and chuckled to himself.

"Please, me behave?"

* * *

><p>The entire monitor bay was filled with Superstars and Divas. So far, the TLC Pay Per View had gone well. There were no unwanted interruptions. John Laurinaitis was too busy entertaining a few board members and Vince McMahon in box seats. Stephanie had organised for her father to join the event, and John was unable to intervene in their program for the night. That being said, the man had a few choice words about the title arrangements that were occurring. They knew that eventually he would find a way to strip all the current Champions of their titles. Not one of them was his ideal choice. However, he had more important issues at the moment, such as sucking up to the Board, than to worry about them. Zoe struggled past the Superstars to get to the front of the crowd. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't six foot tall and was having a hard time trying to view the monitors from behind the crowd of giants. Finally, she made it to the front, pushing through a gap between Paul Levesque and her cousin. Shooting a grin at her amused cousin, she readjusted her blouse, and turned her attention to the main event currently being broadcasted. The three men in the ring, CM Punk, the Miz and Alberto Del Rio, were putting on a phenomenal main event. Zoe was curious to see how the PPV ratings and opinions would pan out with three new stars of the company maineventing, rather than John Cena or Randy Orton. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head as Ricardo Rodriguez handcuffed CM Punk to a ladder.<p>

Stephanie McMahon appeared at her husband's side at that moment, her finger pointed at the screen, "Somebody explain!" She was met with silence, and she noticed the smug smirk on her husband's face appear. Zoe furrowed her brow, watching as Punk broke the ladder bar, freeing himself to attack Alberto from grabbing the title. The match continued on, until Ricardo started to scale the ladder. The entire monitor bay of Superstars and Divas watched in horror, as Miz and Punk pushed the ladder over, throwing Ricardo out of the ring, and threw a table. Stephanie McMahon looked borderline a nervous wreck, and she reached a hand up to clutch the lapel of her husband's jacket, "Paul, you wouldn't by any chance have given them free reign to design their own match, did you?"

Paul smirked, "Only some free reign."

Miz had once again handcuffed Punk, but this time to the metal rope attachment of the ring. Zoe knew the outcome of the match, but even still, her heart raced, watching as Punk struggled to undo the attachment and free himself. Her face lit up when he managed to free himself, and cheered with the rest of the roster as CM Punk retained his title. Her smile grew watching as he sat up on the ladder, the title held above his head. Her attention was broken by John scooping her up into a hug, "Congratulations, babygirl. You put on an amazing PPV."

She leaned back in her cousin's arms, her grin firmly on her face, "It was pretty alright wasn't it." John chuckled, setting her on the ground. The three main event stars returned backstage, and Zoe watched, as the roster congratulated each of them on a great main event. As the crowd thinned out, Zoe laid eyes on the Champion, who was using a towel to wipe the sweat from his body. His eyes caught her dark ones, and he sent her a wink.

"Just so you guys know, I'm ok."

Mike and Phil shared a grin before tackling Ricardo Rodriguez, who was being helped backstage. The courageous ring announcer had taken a nasty bump, and luckily, he was alright after the fall. He pushed his coworkers off of him, laughing. Alberto wrapped an arm around his long time friend, "Ola, let's get you cleaned up and we shall see you guys out tonight."

"Could somebody please get me out of these?"

Zoe stifled a laugh at the handcuffs that were still attached to Punk's hand. Paul Levesque rolled his eyes, "I better find the key."

Punk's face paled, "What?"

Beth stepped forward, her Diva's title over her shoulder, "Congratulations, boys." She eyed the handcuffs attached to Punk, a smirk across her face, "Not pink and fluffy like the other pair you own."

Zoe buried her face in her hands, stifling a laugh, "Oh my god, Beth." She lifted her head to find John and Mike tackling Punk, a chorus of teasing echoing around them. She smiled at the trio, and her mind wandered back to a few months ago when the friends were at odds with one another. Within a few short months, that had all changed again, and now they were still the most unlikely group of friends she could think of backstage. Chewing her lip, she realised all the Champions from the night were present, and an idea formed in her mind. Turning to Stephanie, who was scolding her returning husband for not having the key on him, she asked, "Are the photographers still set up?"

Stephanie nodded, a curious expression on her face, "Why?" Her gaze drifted to the group behind Zoe, and she smiled, "Perfect."

Zoe Winters gathered the Champions, and led them to the room where the WWE photographers were starting to pack up their gear. She coaxed them into taking one last photograph, and she pulled the guys and Beth into the room, arranging them to stand together. She stepped back and watched as the photographer took a photo of them. Her hand reached into her back pocket of her jeans, and she pulled out her iPhone, quickly taking a snap of the group. The group soon left into the corridor of the arena, and each made their way back to their rooms, making plans to meet up later on to party. Zoe could sense someone following her, and stopped, turning her head over her shoulder, "Yes, Punk?"

"Cute idea." Zoe opened her phone, showing him the photo of the group of Champions. He smirked at the picture, "If you can't get behind that, you're going to be left behind."

Her smile widened, "That's hopefully what Vince saw tonight. The crowd seemed really into it, so just maybe, it worked."

Punk nodded, readjusting his belt on his shoulder. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulder and guided her down the corridors to her office, "Maybe, I should never have doubted you."

Zoe lifted her hand to entwine with the one over her shoulder, "Maybe I should've listened to you all those months ago."

He tugged her closer to his body, resting his head against hers for a moment, "Yeah, but think about it. If I hadn't have done what I did, it would've taken longer to set all this in motion."

Zoe sighed, "As long as you don't plan any more pipe bombs while I'm around." She paused, "Or at least, let me know about it."

Punk grinned, unwrapping his arm, and pushing her gently towards her office, "I'll think about it." Zoe shot him a look, and grinned to herself, as she heard his laughter float down the hallway with him. She shook her head, entering her makeshift office. The group were all heading out that night, so she hurried to put all her papers into her bag. Her hand gripped the script and outline for the next night's Raw, tightly. Tomorrow, would be the start of the new era. She could only hope that it would go well. The show would be opening with the three new Champions, and ending with them also. She didn't want to be proved wrong. It was what the fans had wanted. She could only hope that they still wanted that tomorrow night.

* * *

><p>"Coz we are the champions, my friendssssssss!"<p>

CM Punk shot an amused look at John Cena, "Your cousin is a sloppier drunk than you are."

John Cena clutched the pillar of the hotel entrance, tightly, "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Punkie."

The new WWE Champion stifled a laugh and looked heavenward for a moment. The Superstars and Divas had all been out celebrating TLC. Unfortunately, a majority of them were intoxicated, and that included one Creative writer. Punk watched, amused, as Zoe clutched onto Matt Cardona and Cody Runnels. The three were swaying back and forth singing the much loved Queen classic. As the Straight-Edge one, Punk was usually designated driver, and designated 'get John Cena to his room before he starts stripping in the hallways' guy. Thankfully, he had Randy, who was only slightly less intoxicated than John. The Viper was attempting to pry his best friend off the pillar, holding the larger man against his side, sloppy grins on both their faces. Zoe giggled, swinging her legs in the air, her arms wrapped tightly around Matt and Cody. Punk couldn't imagine what they looked like to the hotel staff as they made their way into the lobby. He cast a glance over at Eve and Beth. The two new besties were propping each other up, giggling about something. They piled into the elevator and thankfully, for Punk's sake and sanity, they were all on the same floor. True to their drunk forms, Matt, Cody and Zoe fell out of the elevator.

CM Punk snorted, leaning over, and grabbing Zoe's arms gently to pull her up. He kept her close to his side, and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders. She beamed clumsily at him, "Thanks!" She giggled at the site of Matt and Cody grabbing each other to help themselves up. She stretched on her tiptoes to whisper in Punk's ear, "I think they're pretty drunk."

"Randall, stop touching me like that."

"Well, if you stopped trying to undress yourself in the hallway, I wouldn't have to do that!"

After depositing the others to their rooms, Punk was left with Randy, John and Zoe. John and Randy were rooming together next door to Zoe, and across from Mike and Phil. Punk watched amused, as the two best friends fought to enter the room, first. John was already shirtless, much to Punk's amusement. The man had an uncanny need to shed his clothes when he was drunk. That usually prompted many awkward nights dragging a half naked and intoxicated John Cena through hotel corridors. The Straight-Edge Superstar chuckled as John spun around, "Good night, Zoe!"

Zoe beamed, removing herself from Punk's arms to hug her cousin. "Night, John." She pulled back and winked at Randy, who smirked at her. Much to John's disgust, Zoe jumped into Randy's arms, wrapping her legs around him, giggling, "Night, Randy!" After seeing the murderous look on John's face, Punk stepped forward, prying the girl off the Viper, who grinned innocently at John. As the two men disappeared inside their hotel room, Punk propped Zoe up against his side. He looked at her expectantly, and she furrowed her brow, "What?"

Punk rolled his eyes, "Your key, Zo'!"

"Ooooh!" exclaimed Zoe. She pulled the key out from her jean pocket, and pushed Punk off her so she could step forward to open her room. He clutched at her hips to keep her steady. She sent him a cheeky look over her shoulder, her cheeks stained red. She turned to him, and leant against her open door, "Goodnight, Punk."

Her sloppy smile made Punk chuckle, "Goodnight, Zoe."

Zoe shut the door behind her, leaning against it with a sigh. Giggling, she stumbled her way into the bathroom, and started to strip off her jeans and top. A rapid knock at her door had her stumbling to the door in her bra and undies. She pulled it open, her face flushed, "What?" She slurred.

Punk's eyes were wide. "Maryse is naked. And so is the Miz." Zoe's eyes caught sight of the bag in his hands, and she stumbled aside to allow the Superstar into her room. Punk made his way inside, before spinning around to look at Zoe, "Um.. Zoe?" She glanced down at her body and grinned, shyly. He smirked at her, "Not that I'm complaining."

Zoe rolled her eyes, shaking her finger at him, "No, don't try to be cute, Punky." She stepped past him to make her way to her bed, "These are my peee jays! So don't complain!"

The older man smirked, his lip ring glinting in the hotel room light. He pulled off his tshirt and jeans, leaving him in his briefs. While her back was turned, he pulled on a pair of track pants, "I thought you slept in an Xmen tshirt."

The speed at which Zoe spun around made her stumble, and Punk stepped forward, catching her in his arms. She pushed against his chest, an embarrassed smile on her face, "You remembered!"

Her fingers traced his tattoos on his bare chest, and Punk was having a hard time controlling himself. She was drunk, and he wasn't that guy who did that. He pushed her hips away from him, "C'mon, bed time. And don't throw up on me in the middle of the night."

Zoe sent him a coy grin, before diving onto the large bed. She slipped under the covers, and patted the spot next to her. Punk raised an eyebrow and she shook her head, giggling, "I'll keep my hands to myself as long as you do." Her wink made Punk shake his head again, chuckling. He slipped under the blankets, and regretted it almost instantly when Zoe pressed against him. She buried her head into the crook of his neck, her arm curling up against him. "Night, Punky." Punk waited till her breathing shallowed out and he could tell she was asleep. Leaning over, he turned off the lamp, and pulled her tighter against him, his head resting against hers.

Tomorrow morning should be interesting.

* * *

><p><span>December 20, 2011<span>

A groan filled the room of Zoe Winters. The young Creative writer felt the sun hit her eyes through a crack in the curtains. She lifted her head and eyed the clock on the bedside table in disdain. It was only 8am. Her flight wasn't till later in the afternoon. She groaned, dropping her head back to the chest of CM Punk. Her eyes blinked open, and she lifted her head again to look down at the man sleeping next to her. Oh, she remembered everything. Her cheeks flushed at their arrangement, and she groaned again, throwing her head back against her pillow. She covered her face with her hands and sighed. Slowly making their way to being friends again, and now they were in bed half naked. She peeked through her fingers at the bare chest of CM Punk. The dark haired girl wasn't going to lie. She was enjoying this slightly. Propping herself on an elbow, she leaned over to have a closer inspection of the tattoos adorning Punk's chest. She didn't know what possessed her, but soon enough, she had her finger trailing along the outline of the skull on his chest.

"Fuck, that tickles."

With a squeal, Zoe fell backwards onto her pillow, her heart racing. She scowled as Punk chuckled, turning on his side to face her. Her hand reached over to swat his chest, "That was mean."

Punk shrugged. He glanced back at the clock and sighed, "Huh, that's a lot of sleep."

Zoe looked appalled, "Four hours?"

He pulled his lip in with his teeth, "I don't sleep remember."

"You're a wierd kid."

A smirk formed on Punk's face, "Ah, after last night, Zo, you are the wierd kid."

Zoe buried her face in her hands, "I sung. Oh my god, I remember it all." She felt her hands being pried away from her face, and she glared at Punk, "You're enjoying this. This is why you don't drink, so you can take pleasure in watching us make fools of ourselves."

"You also mounted Randall."

For a moment, Zoe looked horrified. Then a smirk curled her lips, "Can't say I regret that." She laughed as Punk rolled his eyes, "Oh c'mon, did my cousin hate it?"

Punk snorted, "He looked borderline aneurysm."

Zoe grinned, triumphantly, "Oh he is going to be watching me like a hawk tonight on Raw."

"Speaking of Raw, what's the go?"

The young Creative writer chewed her lip, trying to hide her grin. She was quite excited about being in charge of the three Champions. She planned their promo and match well. The rest of the show was being left to the rest of the team to give Zoe and Stephanie a much needed break after weeks of running around like crazy. Her dark eyes met Punk's and she sighed, "You're going to open the show with Zack and Brian. You'll be confronted by Miz, Dolph and Alberto." She paused, her grin widening, "And then you're maineventing."

Punk stared at the young woman beside him. He was opening and closing a Raw broadcast. He tried to hide the grin forming on his face, "Really?"

Zoe smirked, "Really!" She squealed as the Straight-Edge Superstar leaned over, wrapping his arm around her in a hug. Her laughter filled the room, and she wrapped her arms around him, "You're welcome I suppose?"

He sent her a smirk as he hovered above her on his elbows, "Thanks." Taking a chance, he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. He felt her freeze under him, and he went to lean back, but her hand reached the back of his head, pressing him back to her. Within moments, he had positioned himself between her legs, his body resting against her chest. He lifted his head, a nervous look on his face, "Zoe-"

Zoe propped herself up on her elbows, her face inching closer to the man sitting in between her legs. She shook her head, "One day, we said." She squirmed to get out from under him, "Not today. Not now."

Punk gripped her waist, pulling her into his lap, as he sat up in their bed, "Hey, come here." He brushed her hair from her face, "Shit happens." He sent her a small grin and her face brightened, remembering their previous time together on a hotel balcony. "We're good, yeah?"

Zoe nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, "One day, Punk."

* * *

><p><span>December 22, 2011<span>

"Did you hear about the ratings?"

Zoe's ears perked up, and the ensuing conversation beside her caught her attention. Casting a glance over her shoulder at the pair, she sat up straighter, listening intently.

"Worst ratings in a long time," continued one of the writers on the Creative team, "Honestly, look at the champions. The guys are nobodies. They're not interesting at all."

Jake Ritter shook his head, a dry chuckle leaving him, "It was Punk's idea to push those two, and of course, Zoe went along with it, and so did Stephanie. What are those women thinking-"

"They're thinking that we should stop shoving John Cena down people's throats."

The two males spun around to see Zoe standing from her seat, and Jake spluttered to form a sentence, "Zo-"

Zoe held up her hand, "What the hell are you two bitching about?"

"The ratings are the lowest they've ever been." The other male with Jake handed Zoe a sheet of paper, outlining the numbers for the live show. Zoe's face dropped. No wonder Punk had been so different today. The usually outspoken Superstar had kept to himself most of the day, and even tonight as they performed a house show, he wasn't his usual charismatic self behind the scenes. Out in the ring, he kept it all professional and entertained the fans. But as soon as he pushed through the curtains of the gorilla area to the backstage arena, he shut off and headed straight for his locker room. Her original thought had been about Monday morning, however, their relationship was fine. It was just that Punk was somehow different. Zoe threw the paper back at Jake, and made a beeline out of the room.

Jake rolled his eyes, "What are you going to do, Winters? This speaks for itself. You can't change what the fans like. Your supposed change was all a waste of time."

Zoe spun around, and glared furiously at the man, who had originally been out for her job. Every step of the way now, he argued about the angles and the storylines. "You can't take away their titles. They've worked too hard!"

Jake shrugged, "They're not interesting champions, Zoe. You're not going to get a ratings hit.." He snorted, "Actually, you didn't even get the first one. It was all Punk-"

"Shut up," spat Zoe, "Give them a chance."

The man smirked, "The buy rate for the PPV was down as well."

"All our buy rates have been down-"

"No, they haven't."

Zoe folded her arms across her chest, "Except when the Rock was here. We can't have the Rock for every PPV. He is long gone from this company. We have to start pushing what we have! Why don't any of you understand that?"

"Well, clearly we are pushing the wrong ones."

Zoe wanted to slap the smug smirk off his face, but instead she turned on her heel and left the room. The dark haired woman stormed through the hallways, her mind on finding the WWE Champion. After five minutes of pure hopelessness, Zoe managed to grab a Bella twin and let her guide the way to wherever Punk was staying. The Bella twin informed her that he was on his own. Everyone was giving him space since the bad news about the ratings came in. Zoe rapped her knuckles against the heavy door to Punk's room. Without even waiting for him to reply, she pushed open the door to find Punk sitting on the bench, his head in his hands. Chewing her lip, Zoe leaned back against the closed door, her arms folded against her chest. "Hey," she started quietly.

Punk raised his head from his hands, and tried to force a smile on his face, "Hey Zo'".

Zoe took a few steps forward to sit beside him on the bench, "I heard about the ratings."

"Come to take away my title?"

Zoe shook her head, "No, why would you say that?"

"That's what everyone is saying."

Zoe never expected CM Punk to just give in. After all the chaos he caused the get that title, the last thing she would expect to see was a sad man giving up. "We just need to put you in a different feud. Alberto has torn his groin. Nick's going to be in the title picture now."

Punk shrugged, "Am I going to lose at the Royal Rumble? I'm sure Laurinaitis would want that, and Steph might even go along with it."

Zoe shook her head, "I'll try and get you to keep it, Punk. I have something planned for you, don't worry." She sighed, watching as his expression didn't change, "Don't worry about the ratings, Punk. The fans were cheering for you tonight. Just remember that. And you got Matt and Bryan up there with you. You made this a reality for them." She forced a smile onto her face, "Matt is literally annoying the shit out of everyone with his filming about him being champion. I'm pretty sure Mike has him locked in a closet right now." She smiled more as Punk let out a small laugh, "You're going to be Champion for a while, and it's going to be memorable."

Punk glanced at her over his shoulder, "You're not going to risk your job or anything over it, because I heard it's not that much fun for you." He chuckled as she punched his shoulder, "Thanks, Zoe."

"Anytime, Punk." Brushing off her skirt, the young brunette stood from her seat on the bench and made a move to leave, however, Punk grasped her hand, and pulled her down to sit sideways on his lap. She raised an eyebrow, her arms clutching his shoulders, "Punk?" Her words died as he buried his face in her hair, and sighed. Chewing her lip, Zoe brought a hand up to comb through his hair, "Why haven't you spoken to anyone?"

The Straight-Edge Superstar moved his head out from her neck, and mumbled a response, "For all the gloating I did about doing what the fans want, I find out I'm not what the fans want.. What was I supposed to say? I'm the only one that believed in my own hype?" He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, "I was embarrassed."

Her fingers drummed against his shoulder, and she sighed, curling her other hand from his hair to around his neck, "There's no harm in trying something different, Punk. So not all the fans are loving it, but the whole show was a failure. I don't know why you are taking the blame."

"I started and I ended the show."

Zoe chewed her lip, "There's Matt and Bryan.. They're not acting all depressed like you."

"They didn't hold the WWE up for ransom."

"But after Survivor Series, the ratings were fine. It's not you!"

Punk raised an eyebrow, "So you're going to take Matt and Bryan's titles?"

"No..."

"Yes you are!" growled Punk, his arms loosening from around his waist and moving to push her away.

Zoe tightened her grip around his neck, "Listen to me! I'm not taking their titles away. We're going to do some changing to their characters to make them more interesting! Why do you automatically assume the worst?" She watched as he glanced at the wall, "You still don't trust me, do you? After everything?"

"I do trust you. I just don't trust them."

"I'm one of them. How am I any different?"

Punk remained silent, his attention focusing on the wall opposite him. After a moment, he sighed and leaned his head forward, resting it on Zoe's shoulder, "You just are."

Reaching a hand up, she patted his cheek lightly, "I'm special."

A snort rang out through the room, "Yes. Yes, you are."

There was a moment of silence between the two, before Zoe uncurled her arms from around his neck, smiling. She hopped off his lap, and headed for the door. Pausing, she looked over her shoulder at him, "Sometimes people take time to get used to change." She smiled, "You're going to be fine, Punk."

As she made her way into the corridor, her smile faltered. She needed to find Stephanie McMahon, and fast. Laurinaitis was probably already making plans to make a ratings hit. They just needed to get there before him, and hopefully without jeopardising any of the current title reigns. She hurried down the corridor, reaching into her pocket for her phone. She really needed to find out what was going on with those January 2nd promos. That was their one thing they had against Laurinaitis, and Zoe hoped it was going to help them.

* * *

><p>AN: Let me know what you guys think! :)


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: I keep getting all these new ideas and I thought it best to write them down, otherwise I'll forget! Hence, the quick update! Thank you once again to all the alerts and reviews! Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>December 26th, 2011<span>

"Have you ever heard of knocking?"

Nick Nemeth, otherwise known to the world as Dolph Ziggler, shot Zoe Winters a quick grin as he came sliding through her office door in the arena. The show was in Chicago for the night, and Zoe didn't have quite the fondest memories of the last time they were in the Second City. The crew had arrived early on Boxing Day to set up for the live television show, and Zoe was trying to stay warm in the makeshift office they had set up for her backstage. She was making some last minute changes to a few promos, when her door had burst open and the blonde came barrelling through. She raised an eyebrow, whilst Nick checked to see if anyone outside saw him come into the room. He closed the door quickly, and made his way over to sit in the chair before her desk. He grinned at her, again, his peroxide blonde hair a mess from his run, "Hey, Zo."

Zoe leaned back into her chair, her arms folded over her chest, "What did you do?"

Her laugh filled the office when Nick looked slightly appalled at her accusations. He smirked at the young writer, "It's not what I did. It's what I want you to do." He leant forward to rest his arms on her desk, "Give me a quick rundown of tonight's Raw."

Zoe looked at the man confused. She had no idea where he was going with this. Plus, he should really already know what was happening on Raw, considering he was competing. She sighed, "There will be a gauntlet match. Laurinaitis wants Swagger, Mark Henry and you to participate. Punk will beat Swagger but lose to you. And then you get your title shot."

"I see."

She narrowed her eyes at the former US Champion, "Are you not happy with getting a title shot the week after?"

Nick sent her another smile, "Oh, I'm happy. And I'm sure Laurinaitis is happy, however, I think you're playing too much to what he wants. I am exactly who John wants to face Punk for his title in a week's time, but I think we need to see how much Laurinaitis wants me to be that number one contender."

Zoe raised a dark eyebrow, "Go on."

"Send out a new booking sheet. Write that Punk will beat me and Henry-" He raised a hand stopping Zoe from cutting in, "I'm not finished!" He stifled a laugh at the look on Zoe's face, "You've got a promo written for the beginning of the show, where Laurinaitis announces the gauntlet match for Punk? I need you to change that."

"Would you also like my job, Nick?"

"No, thank you. This was hard enough to think of as it was. Vickie helped me, but I'll just take the credit." Nick Nemeth leaned back in his seat, a proud look on his face, "You need to get Punk to say that after he wins those three matches, he proposes a match with Laurinaitis." He waved his hand again when Zoe tried to speak, "Woman, let me finish! If he proposes the match, Laurinaitis will do anything in his power to make me win so he doesn't have to face Punk."

Zoe blinked, "That sounds all great, but if John sees that promo prior to Raw, he will contest it."

Nick grinned, "Time for a Punk pipebomb?"

Zoe couldn't help the smirk that curled her lips, "Alright. I'll change the booking sheet so Punk wins all three matches. Therefore, giving Laurinaitis the opportunity to make some 'exciting' announcement next week such as an impromptu match, which he loves doing. But Punk will foil those plans by proposing his own match with him at the end of tonight." She nodded at Nick, "You did well, Nick."

He matched her smirk, "I figured we need to plant that seed of doubt in the Board and the McMahons' minds about their Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. One small step at a time, but." He rose from his seat, "Thanks for this, Zoe. I'll see you later." He sent her a wink, and left her room. Zoe watched, curiously as he stopped outside the door and shook someone's hand. She couldn't see exactly who he was greeting, but she groaned when that person then entered her room, throwing himself into the seat before her desk.

"You two planned this, didn't you?"

CM Punk sent her an exaggerated wink and smirk, "Would you expect any less from us?"

* * *

><p>"BROOKS!"<p>

The Raw show had officially started, and true to her word, Zoe had organised for John Laurinaitis to be blindsided by CM Punk's proposal to have a match with him later that night. The crowd had chanted for the match, and John had no choice but to accept. In his mind, it was only for the time being. As he stormed backstage, the Executive Vice President only had eyes for one WWE Champion, who had already entered the backstage area after their proposal.

"BROOKS, TURN AROUND!"

The roar only amused CM Punk, who spun around on his heel to face the Interim GM, a smirk firmly in place, "Yes, Mr. Laurinaitis?"

"You have some nerve coming out there and blindsiding me with an attack like that. A match? I'm not competing in a match with you."

Zoe chose that moment to walk up to the two men, a smile on her face, "Mr. Lauriniatis, that was absolutely amazing! Did you and Punk work this out?" John Laurinaitis turned to face the young writer, a confused look on his face. Zoe feigned a look of understanding, "Oh, sorry, I thought you'd organised this with Punk. Thought you guys might have stepped up the rivalry of authority and rebel like Steve Austin did all those years ago."

John Laurinaitis stared at Zoe, thoughts running wild through his head. He cleared his throat, "Ah, yes. We did."

Zoe bounced on the balls of her feet, a wide grin on her face, "Great. I'll go organise with the booking team to quickly get you guys ready for a match later on. I actually pitched this idea to the team, but they thought you wouldn't go for it." She watched with glee, as Laurinaitis tried to keep a smile plastered to his face. She knew the man was dying to leave to figure out a way to get out of this match, "You'll be the main event tonight, Sir, is that alright?"

John nodded, his hand reaching up to loosen the tie around his neck, "Yes. That's fine. If you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready for tonight."

Zoe and Punk watched the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations leave the backstage area and head for his office. Punk turned to the young woman beside him, a smirk on his face, "What was that?"

Zoe winked at him, before she waved at Stephanie McMahon, who was heading over to them, a document in her hand, "You'll see."

Stephanie clicked her tongue against her teeth, "Oh, Mr. Laurinaitis is going to be coming up with one hundred and one ways to get out of this match." She waved the document, and grinned at Punk's quizzical look, "According to WWE Policy, you must be medically cleared to compete in the ring. Laurinaitis has his medical every month, and this clearly states he is not medically cleared. Which means, if he steps into the ring for a match, he will be breaking a policy and I'm sure the Board will not be happy about that."

Punk smirked, "Let's see what trick John boy pulls out for my match against Ziggler."

* * *

><p>"I'm still very confused."<p>

Stephanie McMahon patted her husband, gently on the arm, "Honey, I can't explain it to you again. I don't have the patience. Just watch the match and be quiet."

Paul Levesque narrowed his eyes at his wife. Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk was the second match in Punk's scheduled gauntlet matches, and the match was currently underway. The COO of the WWE, his wife and Zoe Winters were watching in anticipation for John Laurinaitis to interfere in the match. Zoe laughed as Paul once again tried to get Stephanie to explain to him exactly what was supposed to happen. Zoe leaned back in her chair in the monitor bay to look at her boss, "Laurinaitis knows he can't compete tonight, so considering the love he has for Nick at the moment, we're hoping he'll interfere in the match and get Nick to win."

"But the ref knows Punk is to win."

Zoe glanced at the action on the television, "We told him that if Laurinaitis interferes and Ziggler has the pin, just count him to win."

"And what if he doesn't interfere?" Paul Levesque watched as Stephanie and Zoe shared a distressed look, "You two didn't think of that, did you?"

Stephanie shrugged, "The man is spineless and manipulative. He doesn't want Punk as Champion, so he'll do anything." Her face widened into a smile as she watched Vickie grab Punk's leg to stop him performing the GTS on Ziggler, "Oh I love that woman. Right on time." Her smile got larger when her eyes caught sight of John Laurinaitis making his way down the ramp to ringside.

The interim Raw GM grabbed a microphone and addressed the crowd, "In the interest of justice, there has been an injustice here tonight!" He called to the referee who was getting ready to count the pin hold that Punk currently had on Ziggler, "Referee! Referee! I know you can't see everything, but Vickie Guerrero just got involved in this match! So Vickie and Jack, you're out of here!" John Laurinaitis climbed the steps to the ring. Punk had rolled off Ziggler, and glared at the Raw GM, "Punk, Punk! About your proposal tonight for our match. I'm not going to get-" His words were cut off as Ziggler capitalised on the distraction and hit the Zig Zag on CM Punk. He covered the WWE Champion, and the referee counted to three for the win. John Laurinaitis, in the meantime, had left the ring area, and was making his way up the ramp, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Paul glanced at the two women beside him, both with smirks on their faces, "Explain."

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, "We may also have planted into his brain that we were planning to run a McMahon/Austin storyline with him and Punk. Now what man is going to give up an opportunity like that to recreate one of the greatest storylines this company has had?" She watched as realisation dawned on Paul's face, "He's too worried about making this storyline work, and controlling backstage, that at some point, he's bound to fuck up."

Paul raised an eyebrow at her language, but chuckled at the same time, "You're just setting him up to fail."

Zoe smirked, and Paul was slightly unnerved to see his wife smirk exactly the same. He'd seen that smirk before. The two women were getting too much enjoyment out of ruining a man. He groaned to himself.

This was all CM Punk's fault.

* * *

><p>"What you see before you is my true self. My essence. I may wear a mask, but it is all of you who spend every waking second living a lie. And that's because you-"<p>

John Cena's music resounded through the arena, interrupting Kane's speech to the crowd. The confrontation between the two was now scheduled to end the show, and as John made his way out, a burst of pyros from the stage blocked his path.

"STOP!" growled Kane, watching as the pyros stopped the former WWE Champion's path, "Stop Cena! I didn't come out here to pick a fight with you, Cena." Kane paused, "You want to know why I assaulted you? Why I chose to make you my victim? It's simple, Cena. You have led all of these people astray. You ask them to rise above hate. That's a fallacy! This world is a dark, dark place. It's okay to hate. You humans are hateful, by nature. Deep down, everybody hates. Why rise above it, when the natural impulse is to embrace it. To let it consume you. People hate. They hate their bosses. They hate their neighbours. They hate their spouses. They hate their miserable existence." He paused again, his face clouded with anger. "Rise above it? That's a fraudulent myth perpetuated by you! " He pointed at Cena, "Hate is the seed from which we are all born. It drives us. It motivates us. It fuels our impulses and I know that you feel it John. You feel it swimming underneath your skin like a thousand insects eating away at you." Kane stopped again, watching as John shook his head, adamently, "But once you embrace the hate. You become honest with yourself." The crowd started buzzing with a Cena chant growing amongst the fans, "You become free. Free. What you fail to realise, John, is that with your denial, you grow weaker by the moment. And until you embrace that with which you deny, you can never be truely free." Kane paused and moved around the ring, allowing the infamous 'Let's go, Cena. Cena sucks' chants to grow, "I am going to help you, John. And all of these people are going to help you on your path towards enlightenment. Because right now, the last image that you will see this year. The last thing that you will hear is each and every one of these people chanting the words which tear your soul apart. Cena sucks." He led the crowd into the chant, and the entire arena soon became filled with 'Let's go Cena. Cena sucks' chants. But the more and mroe it continued, the Cena sucks chants got louder, and Kane watched with satisfaction as it tore John Cena apart, and the final image of Raw was the poster boy of the company, hanging his head sadly, surrounded by hateful chants.

As the show went off air, John Cena moved slowly backstage, his head still down. He pushed past a few of his fellow superstars, and stopped when a hand rested on his arm. He looked over at his cousin, Zoe Winters. She chewed her lip, her forehead crinkled in worry, "Johnny, are you okay?"

He nodded, "I'm fine, babygirl." His eyes scanned the room filled with Superstars and Divas looking at him, worry etched all over their faces. They all knew that this was a part of the show, but after watching the reaction of the man, many were worried it had gone too far. He made a half-hearted attempt to plaster a grin on his face, "I'm a big boy, Zoe. I can take it." John pulled his arm, gently from her grip, and continued his way down the hallway.

Zoe chewed her lip, watching as he disappeared around the corner. He was not alright. She knew it from the moment he tried to smile. It just never reached his eyes.

* * *

><p>The ride from the arena was eerily silent. Zoe continuously glanced at her cousin, her lip almost bleeding from her worried bites. He didn't look happy. He didn't look sad either. But she knew deep down there was something wrong. They had gone over everything for the promo. This angle was all ready to go, and John was on board with it. However, Zoe didn't think John honestly knew how much those boos and chants really hurt him. He thought he could take it. But as the large crowd had jeered and booed him, Zoe, along with everyone else, watched a man break down. Not kayfabe, but for real. She glanced out the window at the dark night sky. With the Raw show in Chicago, CM Punk had offered his large apartment up for his friends to stay in. As they pulled up infront of Punk's apartment, John grabbed their bags from the trunk of the car. Zoe reached for her own bag, but he pulled it to him, shaking his head. Sighing quietly, Zoe followed her cousin up the elevator to Punk's large apartment. She watched him knock on the door, and the Miz swung it open, a grin on his face.<p>

His face dropped when he spotted John, "Well don't you look like a ball of sunshine."

John rolled his eyes, pushing past Mike and into the apartment. He dropped their bags beside the door, and headed straight for the kitchen. Punk looked up from his spot on the lounge, and sighed, pushing himself off the couch to follow his friend into the kitchen, "Cena, stop ransacking my kitchen. I'll get you your goddamn beer."

The Miz shot a look at Zoe, who sighed, tiredly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leading her inside, "He still not saying anything?"

Zoe leaned her head against Mike, as they entered Punk's kitchen to find Matt Cardona and Eve Torres also in there with Punk and John, "Nothing at all."

Eve sat on the counter, with Matt standing in between her legs facing the group of WWE employees, "So what's the go, guys? Sleep? Eat? Movie?"

John ran a hand through his head, "I'm going to finish this up and head to bed." He skulled back the beer, but a hand gripped his wrist, stopping him.

"You might want to slow down, Champ."

John's eyes met Punk's stony ones, and he pulled his hand from Punk's grip, "It's one beer, Punk. Alcohol isn't as evil as you think it is."

"John!" hissed Zoe, moving from Mike towards her cousin, "Relax, huh."

John slammed the beer down on the counter, "For the last time, I am fine."

Mike snorted, folding his arms over his chest, "You're not acting it. Normally, you're the one bouncing around, excited after a show."

The former WWE Champion looked heavenward, his jaw clenched angrily. He shook his head, "How do you think I fucking feel? You all saw what happened, and you still have the goddamn urge to ask if I'm alright?" His face was redding with anger, "How did you want me to feel?" He roared, glaring at his friends around him.

Punk pushed his friend back, "We're sorry for giving a fuck about how you feel."

John pushed Punk away from him, "You don't get it. After everything I do, EVERYTHING I do, for this company, for the fans, I still get the heat. For over five years, I've been getting the same reaction. The same boos. The same chants!" He slammed his hand down on the counter with every sentence. "I am sick and goddamn tired of it! I've let it all slide by before, but tonight. Tonight was the worst."

Zoe stepped closer to her cousin. She reached out to him, placing her hand on his arm, "Johnny, I'll take you out of this storyline. If that's what you want-"

"I didn't say that, Zoe."

Her tongue pushed into her cheek, and she put her hands on her hips, annoyed at her cousin, "Then what the hell do you want, Cena? You either stick with the storyline or you don't. If you want to keep with the angle, then we'll make it our business to not give a fuck about you."

John rubbed a hand over his face, a tired expression on his face, "I just want it to stop. I don't know how that will happen." His voice was quiet as he spoke, "I'll continue with the storyline." He looked up at his friends, "I'm sorry, guys." His hand reached for the beer, and he threw it in the nearby bin, "Y'all have a good night. I'm going to sleep this off."

Eve jumped off the counter, once John had left the room. She pulled on Matt's hand, "I don't know about you guys, but I think it's a quiet one tonight. Goodnight, everyone."

The others nodded, following each other out of the kitchen and to their respective spare rooms. Zoe quickly changed into trackpants and a tank top, and made her way to the spare room that John was in. She pushed the door open, not even bothering to knock. The sight that greeted her almost broke her heart. Her cousin was sitting on the end of the bed, his Rise Above Hate tshirt in his hands. With her feet padding quietly across the floor, she dropped down next to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Johnny," whispered Zoe, clinging to him tightly.

John sighed, putting the shirt next to him, and moving his arms to bring his cousin into his lap, "I'm sorry, Zo."

Zoe leaned back, her eyes reaching up to look into her cousin's own, "Not everyone hates you, John." John shook his head, and she shushed him, "You didn't hear the kids screaming let's go Cena at the top of their lungs?" She watched as he sighed, "John, we're sorry for how we dealt with it. It's just, we are so used to the strong Cena that you are every week, that when you came backstage looking as heartbroken as you did, we had no idea what to do." Her hand reached over to grab the tshirt beside him, "You're going to rise above all this. You're going to come out better from this."

John hugged her tighter to him, "I love how optimistic you are, babygirl."

The dark haired girl smiled from her spot on his lap, "Trust me. It's going to work." She paused, "But if at any time you want to back out because it's too much, just tell me. You're my cousin. You spent so long looking out for me, now it's my turn to look out for you."

The former WWE Champion kissed her cheek, "I love you, Zo."

Zoe smiled a watery smile back to him, her eyes filled with a few tears, "I love you too, Johnny."

John reached up to wipe a tear that had fallen from her eyes, "Hey now, I promise you babygirl. I'll be fine. I'm strong. I got you. I got all of them out there, Mike, Matt, Punk. So what if a few thousand people hate me?" Zoe snorted through her tears, and John chuckled, "That's my girl. I trust you enough to make this work, ok?" He pushed her off his lap, "Now, go get some rest. I got to call my woman."

Zoe rolled her eyes, leaning over to kiss her cousin's cheek, "Goodnight, John." She moved out of the spare room, closing the door quietly behind her. Zoe walked through the hallway into the living room to get to her room, but stopped when she saw the light from the television. Reaching a hand up to wipe her eyes, she noticed Punk sitting on the couch, flicking through the channels. "You really don't sleep, do you?"

Punk shook his head, not taking his eyes off the television, "How's the boy scout?"

"He's fine." She sniffed, and shivered in the cold room.

Punk saw her shiver, and her wet eyes, and waved her over. He tried not to act disappointed when she shook her head, "Fine, suit yourself." Moments later, he heard soft footsteps and he turned to find Zoe with her quilt wrapped around her. He chuckled, leaning foward so she could throw the quilt around his shoulders too while she sat beside him. She curled up next to him, the quilt wrapping around them and keeping them warm. He glanced at her, her head resting on his shoulder. "You alright?"

Zoe nodded, lifting her head to look at him, "He's my cousin. I hate seeing him upset. I was partially at fault, for making him do this." She tilted her head back to stop the tears, "God, what a great christmas I gave him. Merry Christmas John, here's eight thousand people booing you."

Punk snorted, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, "C'mon, Zo."

She shook her head, her hand lifted to wipe her eyes, "I don't get why so many people hate him. He does so much for the fans."

The WWE Champion sighed, flicking the channel again to an old horror movie, "They hate what he is. He's Vince McMahon's pet project. I hope you're ready for the challenge. These fans are brutal. And the fact, he's coming up against the Rock at Wrestlemania is a whole new ballgame. He's going to get booed out of the building if something doesn't change."

"Thanks for the confidence boost," remarked Zoe, dryly. Punk smirked, pulling her closer to him, and was surprised when Zoe pulled her legs over his lap. She leant up and kissed the spot below his ear, quickly.

He glanced at her, "What was that for?"

"Merry Christmas, Punk."

A grin grew on his face, and he gently manuveured the two of them to lie down on the couch. His chest pressed against her back as they spooned on the couch, curled up in the quilt she'd brought with her. "You're a smart girl, Zoe. You really are going to change this place up." He paused, curling closer to her body, his arm wrapped tight around her, "And Merry Christmas, Zo'"

* * *

><p><span>January 2nd, 2012<span>

The January 2nd show of Raw was already hyping up to being an exciting one. CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler were scheduled for a Championship match, while the promos that had been showing for weeks now of a young boy would finally come to an end and the returning Superstar would be revealed. No Superstar or Diva had any idea who was returning. Stephanie had finally let Zoe in on the little secret the previous week, and Zoe had been sworn to secrecy. She was excited for this returning Superstar, and already was trying to figure out a plan for him to be incorporated into their angles already. The Creative team were gathered in one of the larger rooms backstage, organising any last minute changes to the night's show.

The door swung open, and John Laurinaitis made his way in, much to the annoyance of Stephanie McMahon. She plastered a smile onto her face, "Can I help you, John?"

"I'd like to ask why Punk is winning tonight."

"We aren't doing a title change on Raw."

John nodded, "That's fine. But I'd like to ask that Nick be placed in the Championship match at the Royal Rumble."

Stephanie glanced at Zoe, who shrugged, "We were already heading that way, anyway."

"I'd also like to be the special guest referee."

Zoe blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

The sly smile that grew on John's lips unnerved Zoe, "I've already run it past the Board. They enjoyed how I interfered in the match last week." Stephanie and Zoe's faces dropped as he continued, "I explained that the referee was incompetent and thought Ziggler was booked to win. I'm going to make sure that at our biggest event of the month, nothing like that happens again." He smirked, "It works perfectly into your plans for my onscreen persona battling against Punk. I'll leave you ladies to it." He nodded at the rest of the team, "Keep up the good work, guys."

Stephanie stared at the door that John Laurinaitis had just disappeared through, "Did that just blow up in our faces?"

Zoe buried her face in her arms folded on the desk. She groaned, loudly, before pushing her chair back and standing up from the table, "It's going to be a long night, people. I'll get the coffee." She stormed out of the meeting room, a scowl on her face. That had officially gone bad. Everyone was seriously underestimating the man known as John Laurinaitis. As spineless and manipulative as he was, he was also quite clever, and had used last week to his advantage. Zoe was pissed off. This was going to be a hard battle, but she knew that there was no way, Punk was getting screwed over again.

* * *

><p>So, Zoe may have been wrong about Punk being screwed over again.<p>

Despite the fact, Nick and Punk had already botched two moves, causing Punk to smack his face on the ropes and then the back of his head on the ring apron, Zoe was watching in horror as John Laurinaitis came down to the ring to admonish the referee for the exposed turnbuckle. CM Punk had Dolph in the Anaconda Vice, and Dolph was tapping out like he was booked to do. Punk realised there was no referee and quickly whispered into Dolph's ear, "Charge at me, and I'll duck. I need you to hit John."

At Ziggler's nod, Punk jumped up from the Anaconda Vice, celebrating as if he won. He glared at John Laurinaitis, when he realised he'd distracted the referee. Punk stepped towards John, but sidestepped to allow Dolph to charge at the GM, and knock him from the ropes. Punk grabbed Dolph in the GTS, but realised the referee was again distracted with John Laurinaitis. He glanced at Dolph, who squirmed out of his hold, knowing what he had to do, he pushed Punk into Laurinaitis, however, the arena watched in shock as John pulled down the ropes. Punk flew over the ropes and landed awkwardly on the ground, clutching his arm.

Stephanie McMahon appeared at Zoe's side in the monitor bay, "If Nick is smart, he'll let the count out happen. Punk can't wrestle. He can't lift or do the Anaconda Vice with a hurt arm."

Zoe watched as the referee counted Punk out. She watched as Stephanie grabbed a camera crew, and yelled at them to follow Laurinaitis backstage. Ziggler had grabbed the WWE Title and was celebrating with it, while Punk took his time to get up. She bit her lip, worried. He'd already copped enough during the match, and by the look on his face, he was pissed. As the show went to a break, Punk appeared backstage, a scowl on his face. "Where is he?" He roared, clutching his arm.

Before Zoe could react, Stephanie appeared in front of Punk, and grabbed his uninjured arm, guiding him down the corridor, whispering something into his ear. Zoe tried to go after them, but felt Paul's hand on her arm, "Just watch Zoe. Stephanie has got it covered." The Diva's match was over within minutes, and the camera feed panned to a backstage area where John Laurinaitis was standing with David Otunga. Zoe watched the monitor as CM Punk appeared, his face still angry.

David Otunga held an arm out, "Woah, woah, woah, what's the meaning of this?"

Punk glared at the Harvard graduate, "Why don't you shut your mouth?" He turned his attention to John Laurinaitis, "You know for two weeks now. For two weeks. You've screwed me, and I can almost let last week slide. But this week, you almost cost me the WWE Title. And I know you hide behind your suit as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. Far be it for me to be disrespectful, but you're a real piece of-"

"Watch your mouth!" snapped John Laurinaitis, "Punk, you know what your problem is. It isn't with me. It's with Dolph Ziggler. Right or wrong. True or false. Yes or no. Dolph has defeated you twice. He deserves a Title match, which he will get at the Royal Rumble Pay Per View." John rubbed his arm, "And one more thing, I've assigned a special guest referee. A man of integrity. Someone with honour. Who is respected by all. Who just happens to be the Executive Vice President-"

Punk groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, "You know what? You.. Shut your mouth!" He continued to glare at the older man, "I'm going to explain something to you." He pointed at David Otunga, "This guy here is going to come in real handy, because if you screw me out of the WWE title at the Royal Rumble, you're going to want to sue me. Because I'm going to be in jail. You want to guess what I'm going to be in jail for?" He paused, stepping closer, "Animal cruelty, because I'm going to beat you like a bitch." The segment ended, and Zoe listened to the Raw crowd cheer for their WWE Champion.

She caught sight of the WWE Champion making his way to his locker room, and she ran after him, as best she could in her heels. She called for him, "Punk! Punk!"

His arms caught her, as she almost barrelled into his chest, sliding across the concrete floor, "What, Zoe?"

Zoe steadied herself, shooting him a worried look, "You alright?"

He sighed, "I'm peachy, Zoe. I'm sore, tired and pissed off. That man.. God, that man just makes me want to throttle him." He rubbed the back of his neck, his forehead crinkling in pain. He stopped when he felt Zoe reach her hand up to rub the back of his neck.

"You got a nice lump from Nick."

Punk snorted, "It's a keeper. Shit happens. He apologised, it's all good." He sighed, "I'm going to head back, you want a ride?"

Zoe chewed her lip, "John's still got his match, and I don't know how he'll be after.."

She trailed off, and Punk smiled, "It's okay. I'm not going to make you pick between me and John, because we all know you'd pick me anyway." He chuckled at her eye roll, "I'll stay here with you. Just let me get changed, and I'll grab an icepack for my head."

Not long after, CM Punk and Zoe were seated in the monitor bay, watching as Chris Jericho made his return to the WWE. It was the strangest return ever, and confused a majority of the Superstars and Divas backstage. The Highlight Reel host did not say one word during his ten minute return, and disappeared after running around the ring a few times. Punk pestered Zoe for an explanation, but she shook her head, grinning. She leaned over and plucked the icepack from his hands, and placed it behind his neck. She held it there for him, and brought her seat closer to him, their attention on the main event that was just beginning. Punk glanced at her from the corner of his eye, as she placed her other hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. He grinned to himself, his bad mood forgotten.

This was one thing that John Laurinaitis couldn't take away from him. No matter what.

* * *

><p>AN: Let me know what you all thought! :)


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: CM PUNK WON! I'm so glad, because it now works into my story so yay! Hope you all enjoyed Wrestlemania and you enjoy this! Thank you for the reviews and alerts. It's so encouraging to know you guys are interested :)

* * *

><p><span>January 15th, 2012<span>

The moment her plane landed in Anaheim, California, Zoe Winters made it her mission to avoid all Superstars and Divas. The January 16th Raw show was being taped in the home of Disneyland, and while many of them were excited to go see the famous amusement park, Zoe didn't want to be a part of it. Keeping her head down, she manuveured her way through the airport, her sunglasses trying to disguise her. Superstars and Divas bustled around her, many of them arriving on the same connecting flight from their respective states. Zoe quickly hailed down a cab, directing him to the hotel that the WWE had organised for the staff and wrestlers to stay in. Whilst in the cab, Zoe rested her head against the window, her nerves getting the better of her. The past few days while working on the house shows, a startling fact had been presented to her, and her heart had sunk at the time. The previous Raw had ended with Kane attacking John Cena, Zack Ryder and Eve Torres backstage. While the audience had reacted well to it, the numbers for the live Raw came in and Zoe and Stephanie were faced with a hard choice. It only made matters worse that John Laurinaitis was one step ahead of them, and had already proposed to the Board of Directors a way to improve the ratings. Stephanie McMahon had to agree with him, despite her intense hatred of the man. It was a different way to add spark to the storyline. Zoe was not onboard with the decision, and was not present when Stephanie had to inform the Superstars involved of the changes that were going to be made. But she wasn't the head of Creative. Zoe couldn't stop what had been decided.

The cab pulled up to the hotel, and Zoe jumped out, intent on getting to her room before anyone else saw her. She didn't want to have to deal with trying to explain why they did what they did. She didn't want to even think about it. After all the effort she had made, taking care of Raw's Creative angles were starting to turn into a nightmare for her. Wheeling her luggage along the hotel corridor, she stopped in front of her room, fumbling with the key card.

"You're quite stealth-like I have to say."

The deep voice startled her, and Zoe dropped the key card in shock. She glared at the man standing a few feet away from her, and bent down to pluck the keycard from the floor, "Says you."

CM Punk shot her a smirk, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, "You going to hide out in your room all day?"

Zoe sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, "Is that going to be a problem?"

He rocked backwards on his heels, shrugging his shoulders, "It is, if you want to come to Disneyland with us."

"Well I don't." She turned her attention back to her hotel room door, and she pushed it open finally. "Have fun." She hadn't realised Punk had followed her inside her hotel room, and when she spun around, she squealed at the sight of him, "What is wrong with you!"

He shrugged again, much to Zoe's annoyance, "What's wrong with you?"

Zoe raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, "I don't have time for this. Please, Punk, just leave!" She lifted her luggage onto the desk in the room, and started to open it, trying to find some comfortable clothes. She had no intention of leaving this room until Raw the next day. Right now, she just wanted to get comfortable and watch television. Her eyes glanced over her shoulder, and she realised Punk was still standing there. Spinning around on her heel, she glared at him, her hands planted firmly on her hips, "Was I not clear?"

"Oh you were clear." He folded his arms over his chest, "Doesn't mean I have to listen to you." Zoe sighed, angrily. She grabbed her toiletry bag from her luggage and headed for the bathroom. She was intent on blocking out CM Punk as he started speaking again, "Matt doesn't hate you."

Zoe pursed her lips while she unpacked her bathroom products. That was a lie. Matt hated her. She hadn't spoken to him since the decision was made, but she felt in her gut that he would hate her. The Creative had come to the decision that the Long Island Iced Z would be dropping his United States title to Jack Swagger on the January 16th edition of Raw. It broke her heart when the decision was made, and she dutifully appointed another Creative team member to accompany Stephanie McMahon when she went to break the news to Matt. Matt was her friend, and she couldn't look him in the eye knowing that she'd just taken his dream away from him for a stupid reason such as ratings. It had nothing to do with him being champ, but Zoe knew something had to be done to spark interest again. Her ears perked up when she heard Punk speak again.

"I'm surprised you're still here. Based on your track record, I thought you'd be in Boston by now."

That stopped Zoe. She threw her bag down and stormed out of the bathroom, her eyes narrowed with anger. She came face to face with Punk, who had a smirk on his face, "You're a dick, you know that?"

Punk tilted his head, regarding the young woman in front of him, "Well that go your attention." She growled, turning on her heel to head back to the bathroom. He quickly snaked a hand out and gripped her elbow, spinning her back around to face him, "Would you relax one second and listen to me?" At the roll of her eyes, he sighed, "You can't keep hiding when it gets too hard, Zoe."

Zoe struggled to move from his grip, but his hand was clenched around her elbow, tightly. She stopped her struggles, "I feel responsible."

"Stephanie explained to him what happened. He's fine with it. He'll still be on tv, and he'll be part of one of the main storylines," explained Punk, "He's going to be alright, and like I said, he knows it's not your fault."

Her face softened from the scowl it was in, "Why does it still feel like my fault?"

Punk wrapped his other arm around her waist gently. His smirk had faded and he shook his head, a small smile on his lips, "It's a hurdle, Zoe. I know you want to change things around here as much as we do, but we got one thing standing in our way. For now, we've got to get rid of Funk man. After that, we can change things up again."

Zoe pinched his chest, smiling, "Thank god Matt's not a hot head like you, or he would've hunted me down already."

The WWE Champion stuck his bottom lip out much to Zoe's amusement, "I'm not that hot headed." He rolled his eyes at the look Zoe sent him, "Maybe a little." He wrapped his arm that was gripping her elbow around her shoulders, drawing her to his chest for a hug. He mumbled against her head, "So are you coming?"

The Creative writer pulled back, an eyebrow raised at the Straight-Edge Superstar, "I'm not going on Space Mountain with you."

Punk wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her out the hotel room, "I'm not taking no for an answer."

* * *

><p><span>January 16th, 2012<span>

As Zoe later found out, Matt was not mad at her at all. Sure, he was disappointed that he wouldn't be United States Champion anymore, but for the moment, he was quite content with being part of one of the main storylines on Raw, even if that meant he was being flung around in a wheelchair. The Disneyland day out had been so much fun. Zoe had needed it. She needed the time to enjoy herself, and not to be constantly thinking about work and different ways to take down John Laurinaitis. But today, she was back to business mode. The Raw show was scheduled to start in a few hours, and Zoe was backstage at the arena in Anaheim, working with the backstage crew on a few things. Her heels clicked along the concrete floor, as she made her way through the backstage area to find her boss, Stephanie McMahon. As she passed a doorway, an arm reached out, gripping her elbow tightly and dragging her into a room. With a startled yelp, Zoe pushed the arm off her, glaring pointedly at the man who had grabbed her.

"Jesus, Paul, it's a surprise no one has filed harassment suits against you with your antics."

Paul Levesque sent her a cheeky grin, "I'm too charming for that to happen."

Zoe rolled her eyes, her attention turning to Stephanie McMahon, who was seated on the desk in the room, "I was just looking for you."

Stephanie smiled, "Thank god, so was I. I've got some news for you." She handed Zoe a sheet of paper, "I'm removing Jericho from the tagteam. It's to keep with the mysterious return we have organised for him."

Zoe looked confused, "Who are we replacing him with?"

"Foley."

Zoe didn't mean to snort. She loved Mick Foley to bits, but this was hysterical. "I'm sorry, what?" They already had Mick Foley appearing in the opening promo for Raw. The former Hardcore Champion was going to be putting his case forward to be picked as an entrant for the Royal Rumble. The Creative team had already made the decision that he would be allowed, but for the sake of storyline purpose, tonight John Laurinaitis was going to deny him that opportunity.

Stephanie pushed her tongue into her cheek, "Chris will get the tag. Play up to the crowd, then he will leave. Mark Henry will chase Bryan out of the ring area, and Mick will come in to make the save."

Zoe narrowed her eyes at her boss, "You're hiding something."

The look of glee that spread across Stephanie's face made Zoe laugh, "Laurinaitis is going to hate it."

Paul rolled his eyes from his seat on the couch, "No shit, Stephanie."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "He's going to hate it. He's not going to know about it, and to make it look like he's got complete control, he's going to reverse the decision of them winning."

"How do you know that?"

The head of Creative grinned, "That man is too easy to read. He's so livid about Foley being placed in the Royal Rumble that he will do anything to crush that man's spirits." She tilted her head to the side, "And if he does make an appearance in the ring, I want Punk to cut a promo. Prepare something for him."

Zoe's eyebrows raised higher up to her hairline, "About what?"

Stephanie smirked, "You're good at these things. Just something about Punk being angry with Laurinaitis."

Paul matched his wife's smirk, "We need that man to break, and Punk seems to know which buttons to push."

Zoe glanced between the married couple. They had thought of this for a while. It was still two weeks prior to the Rumble, and Zoe realised the importance of tonight. They needed to dispose of John Laurinaitis soon. They couldn't risk another screwjob happening at the Royal Rumble. Zoe folded her arms over her chest, "I'll prepare a promo in the hope that John interferes with their match." She nodded at the couple, "Anything else?"

Stephanie shook her head, "No that's all. Thanks Zoe." Zoe turned to leave the room, before Stephanie's voice stopped her, "Zoe?"

She turned around, a questioning look on her face, "Yeah?"

"A couple of months ago, CM Punk delivered a promo that changed the landscape of this company. It set in motion many changes." The smirk grew on the McMahon daughter's face, "I'd like to know tonight how much Punk wants to further that change."

Zoe matched her boss's smirk. She knew exactly what to do.

* * *

><p>The knock at his locker room door woke Punk up from his daze. His attention had been on the television screen in front of him, watching as John Cena beat down Jack Swagger. His eyes flickered over to the door, as Zoe stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She shot him a grin, papers clutched tightly in her hands.<p>

"Glad you're still here."

Punk glanced at the clock, "Caught me just in time. I need to head to the gorilla soon for my tag team match."

Zoe nodded, her nerves kicking in. She held out the paper to him, "Here's a final copy of your promo you may have to cut if Laurinaitis comes out."

Punk raised an eyebrow, "What changed?" He took the paper from her outstretched hand, and flicked through it. He heard the door slam shut, and he realised she had left the room quickly. Furrowing his brow, he turned to the final page where his promo was written out for him. A smirk grew on his lips, as he peeled off the post it note that was stuck on top of the page. He chuckled to himself, reading the three words scrawled on there, whispering them to himself, "It's clobbering time."

* * *

><p>"Hold on! Hold on one second please!"<p>

The main event for Monday Night Raw had just ended, and true to Stephanie's word, John Laurinaitis appeared on the ramp, making his way down to the ring, intent on reversing the decision of the match. He climbed into the ring, where Mick Foley and CM Punk were still celebrating. Meanwhile backstage, a majority of the Raw roster and backstage crew were watching in anticipation for what was about to happen.

"Mick Foley! I never gave you permission to put yourself in this match!" The crowd roared with disapproval, "You are not a legal participant of this match! So therefore, you have forced me to do my job and reverse the decision of this match! The winners of this match are David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler and Mark Henry!"

Backstage was buzzing with the reversal of the decision, and Zoe kept her eyes firmly on the monitor in front of her, hoping to God that this went well. She crossed her fingers, "C'mon Punk."

Her whisper was overheard by John Cena, who was standing close next to her. He raised an eyebrow, "What did you do?"

Zoe's lips tilted up into a smirk he recognised too well, "I didn't do anything." The angry growl that came from the monitor got everyone's attention again, and their eyes widened as CM Punk grabbed the microphone from John Laurinaitis, looking absolutely livid.

"What's the matter? You didn't like that? Huh, Mr. Laurinaitis?" yelled Punk, standing close to the interim Raw GM, "Do you find me disrespectful? You don't like it when I just grab things out of your hand, do you?" As he said this, Punk pushed and pulled at the jacket of John Laurinaitis, "Let me tell you what you're going to do about it." Punk paused, "Absolutely nothing." John tried to cut in, gesturing at Mick Foley, but Punk cut him off, "No, Mick has nothing to do with what's going on right here. It's time we put our- NO SHUT YOUR MOUTH! YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME!" The crowd went wild as he screamed at the older man, "You're going to man up. You're going to take your balls out of your purse right now and we're going to lay our cards on the table."

John Cena glanced warily at his younger cousin, "Zoe, baby girl, honey.. I really don't like that smirk on your face-" Zoe battered her eyelashes innocently at her cousin, and he groaned, rubbing a hand over his tired face, "Baby girl please tell me you didn't have anything to do with this." His question was met with silence and John groaned again. It was June 27, all over again. He glanced around him. All the Superstars and Divas were absolutely entranced with what was unfolding onscreen. He knew it wasn't scripted. Everyone knew it wasn't. But right now, Punk was getting away with exactly the same as he'd done 6 months ago. John frowned, and he shot a look at Zoe again, "You're setting him up!"

Zoe grinned at the former WWE Champion, "Took you awhile." She turned back to the television, "You'll see."

"...So you're going to screw me at the Royal Rumble. Let me tell you something, Johnny, it doesnt matter what you do to me in my championship match, because coming out of it, I'll still be better than you," continued Punk in the ring. "And I'll have all these people doing something that you wished your entire career they did. I'll have them talking about you. See if you screw me, I'm not going to hit you with the GTS. I'm not going to put you to sleep. I'm not going to lock you in the Anaconda Vice." The sadistic smirk grew on Punk's face," But I'm going to have people talking about you, for sure. Because if you screw me, they're going to be talking about how Mr John Laurinaitis, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim GM, looks like he went through a meat grinder because CM Punk just kicked his pathetic ass!" The crowd roared at the words of the WWE Champion, and Punk continued to glare at the man in front of him. He raised his right hand to hit him, but stopped, and he smirked as the Interim GM cowered in fear. "You're pathetic!" He shoved the microphone into the chest of the older man, and slipped out of the ring with his title, making his way backstage.

CM Punk's pipe bomb on John Laurinaitis unleashed the truth from the interim Raw GM, as he exploded, his face red with anger. Not only had he just been publicly berated, but his career had been made a mockery by one of the men he was trying to ruin. Mick Foley could only watch in mild amusement, as did the rest of the WWE Universe, as Laurinaitis came clean about his plans to screw CM Punk at the Royal Rumble. "You want to know if I'm going to screw Punk at the Royal Rumble? YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I WILL!" The Executive Vice President of Talent Relations snapped on screen, ranting about not being respected backstage and by Punk. Much to the surprise of many, he hit Foley after the segment. As the cameras stopped rolling, the Raw GM made his way backstage, intent on finding the WWE Champion who had once again gone off script on the microphone.

"What the hell was that?" His eyes scanned over the crowd of people gathered in the monitor bay. Finally, his eyes landed on the angry WWE Champion, and his face changed into a scowl, "Brooks, what the hell is your problem? Didn't you learn from the first time!"

CM Punk folded his arms over his sweaty chest, his face still contorted in anger from his promo on the RAW GM, "You should've learnt the first time, that if I have something to say, then you are damn well sure I'm going to say it."

Laurinaitis's blood was boiling. He wasn't about to lose control because of the loose cannon in front of him, "That was unprofessional of you!"

"I'm unprofessional?" scoffed Punk, "I'm unprofessional? Look at you, John boy! You're the one planning to screw me over at Royal Rumble! Can you even forge an original idea of your own?"

"Punk, that's enough!"

John Laurinaitis spun around to face Stephanie McMahon and her husband, Paul Levesque. He loosened his tie around his neck, his scowl fading a little, "I don't understand why you continuously give this man a chance! He is not doing anything for this company!"

Stephanie tilted her head slightly, her eyes not leaving the man in front of her, "Did you really plan to screw Punk over?"

His brow furrowed, "I was doing what was best for this company."

"Did you plan to screw Punk over?"

"I was trying to get the Creative team on board first."

"Well this is the first I've heard of it."

The interim Raw GM paused, realising his error. He clenched his jaw, "I didn't expect you to, since you are too busy making sure your Creative team keeps control over the Talent. How are they incapable of making him follow his script!" His eyes caught sight of Zoe Winters, moving to hand CM Punk a towel to wipe off his sweat, and his heart stopped for a second. This wasn't right. The two hated each other. He turned to face the young woman, "I have no idea why Vince put you in charge of him again. You lost control before, and you've lost control now! Why can't you admit that you aren't right for this job."

Zoe Winters pushed her hand against Punk's chest to hold him back from Laurinaitis, and she turned, her arms folding across her chest. She raised a slim eyebrow, a small smirk dancing across her lips, "Who said I lost control this time?"

In that moment, John Laurinaitis knew he had been set up. He watched as CM Punk's face broke into a smirk that matched Zoe's, and his heart rate sped up. He glanced around him at the surrounding Superstars, all with the same look on their face. He glared at the young girl in front of him, "You did this."

"It's what's best for the company, John. Good luck in your future endeavours."

He clenched his jaw, his face reddening, "I demand some respect! You young lady have no right to speak to me that way! You set me up for failure! Do you know who I am?"

As he stepped closer to Zoe, CM Punk stepped in front of her, his arms folded over his chest, "We all know who you are, John boy. You're a spineless kiss ass."

Stephanie McMahon smirked, "We've been on to you for weeks now, Laurinaitis. The game is over. You're no longer needed as the Board's representative. They are very interested to know why you got so personal with the plans for the talent."

John Laurinaitis took in the scene around him. He had lost complete control. He spluttered for words, but sighed, defeated. "I was doing what was best for this company."

"If this were twenty years ago, fine," said Paul Levesque, "But we are trying to build a new image here at the WWE. We have new talent. We have new ideas. We can't be stuck in the decades before, John."

"What happens now?"

The Interim Raw GM grew unnerved at the matching smirks on the McMahon-Levesque couple's faces. Paul winked at him, "Oh since you love being onscreen so much, you'll still be Raw's GM. But you'll just be a talent. No more Creative decisions. No more Booking decisions. Your ass is ours, Laurinaitis." He gestured to the man to follow him, "Now, Vince wants to see you."

Zoe giggled at the look of fear on Laurinaitis's face. The last thing that man wanted was to see Vince McMahon after the debacle that just occurred. Her laughter was muffled by CM Punk wrapped an arm around her, bringing her towards his chest in a hug. He looked down at the smiling face of the young Creative writer, "It's clobbering time?"

She winked at him, "Because it went so well last time, I thought we could do it again."

Punk headed down the corridor, his arm still wrapped tightly around Zoe's shoulders. He lead her into the locker room, and Zoe moved to jump on the bench in the middle of the room. She kicked her legs back and forth, watching as CM Punk pulled a shirt over his head. She raised an eyebrow, "You're not going to shower?"

He shot her a grin, "I've had too many people walk in on me."

Zoe wrinkled her nose in disgust, "That's lovely." She watched as Punk grabbed his bag, popping it on the bench next to her, and he begun to pack his blelongings. "So looks like you just might win at the Royal Rumble." A giggle escaped her lips as Punk's head shot up, and he looked at her, his eyes wide. She nodded her head, "C'mon Champ, I'm working hard on your future Jericho storyline. Don't tell me you don't want to-MM!"

Punk silenced her with a bruising kiss, his hand reaching up to cup the side of her face. He smiled against her lips, when she responded to him, and he continued kissing her. He moved in between her legs, wrapping his other arm around her waist. He could feel her hands gripping to the front of his shirt. He pulled back with a wink, much to Zoe's amusement.

She let out an embarrassed laugh, "Didn't I say one day?"

He leant in for another kiss, "I'm trying to make that one day today."

She smiled against his lips, pushing at his chest, "You're cute." Zoe snorted at the pout Punk sent her, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why me?" She sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I don't want to screw up what we are trying to get back on track." She furrowed her brow at the smirk on Punk's face, "What?"

Punk leaned forward, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist, "If it weren't for our first screw up, I would've already done this."

It took Zoe a moment to realise what he said, and she let a small smile grace her face, "Really?"

Punk rolled his eyes, "Not to sound like Mike, but really." He glanced at her, "So do I get my one day?" She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, and he grinned.

Yep, he got his one day.

* * *

><p>AN: Review and let me know what you think please! :):)


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: I am so sorry. As with Bright Lights, I got carried away in exams, assignments and then the internet blew up. Lovely. Thank you for all the reviews and alerts! I am so glad you are loving this story, and check out Bright Lights if you haven't yet :) Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>January 22nd, 2012<span>

"Did you just commando roll into my hotel room?"

"Close the door!"

Zoe arched an eyebrow, her arms coming to fold across her chest, "You're insane."

"Did he see me?"

The young Creative writer rolled her eyes, and closed the door to her hotel room. She turned back to face the sprawled out figure of the WWE Champion on her hotel room floor, "No, Punk, I don't think anyone in the deserted hotel hallway saw you."

A triumphant smirk lit up CM Punk's face, "Rad." He rose from the floor and followed Zoe further into her hotel room, his hand reaching up to smooth out his hair, "So how's my favourite Creative writer?"

Zoe snorted, turning to face the dark haired man, "You're already winning at the Royal Rumble. What reason are you sucking up for now?"

Her cheeks stained red, as he reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist to draw her closer. His eyebrows wiggled suggestively at her, a smirk still on his face, "Came to see my woman."

Zoe ducked her head to avoid his kiss, her laughter filling the hotel room. She bit her lip, trying to contain her laughter as she watched Punk struggle to keep the scowl on his face, "Your woman, huh?" She tried to move out of his arms, but Punk kept her locked in place, pulling her even closer to him. The WWE Champion tried his luck again, and ducked his head down to kiss the younger woman, a smirk curling his lips when their lips met. Zoe smiled as well, kissing Punk back. She pulled away, a small blush colouring her cheeks again, "You're a pain in the ass."

"I'm adorable." He pushed her away gently, and leaped onto her bed. Whilst he made himself comfortable against the head board of her bed, Zoe watched him incredulously. His hazel eyes met hers, and he flashed her another smirk, his hand patting the spot next to him, "Hurry up, what movie are we watching? Do you have popcorn?"

With a disbelieving laugh, Zoe shook her head at the antics of the 33 year old. Hoping he would like the small selection of movies she usually took with her on the road, Zoe put one of them in the DVD player. She grabbed a bag of chips from the small kitchen area, and moved to sit on the bed next to Punk. Her chips were quickly confiscated, as Punk snatched them from her grip, opening them instantly and grabbing a handful. Zoe raised an eyebrow, and Punk gaped at her, his mouth full of chomped chips, "You're disgusting."

"Don't forget amazing." The familiar music of the movie started playing, and Punk's eyes lit up at the movie Zoe had chosen. Throwing the bag to his side, Punk wrapped an arm around Zoe, dragging her closer to his side. He leaned down to kiss her again, "The Goonies? You, Zo', are amazing."

Zoe laughed, wrapping an arm around his neck to pull him down for another kiss, "I know."

Punk grinned against her lips, before pulling away slightly to hover over her face, "So whose winning the Rumble on Sunday?" A groan filled the hotel room as Zoe smacked his chest, a faux scowl on her face.

"I knew you were here for another reason!"

* * *

><p><span>January 28th, 2012<span>

Zoe Winters kept her head down on the bus. She was seated in the front row of the charter bus between the hotel and the arena, and was busy scribbling notes in her diary, reminders for things to do. The run through for the Royal Rumble had officially ended, and everyone was eager to get back to the hotel and rest before the PPV the next day. Zoe glanced up at the line of wrestlers making their way onto the bus, and her eyes caught sight of CM Punk outside the bus, waiting to get on. A smile flickered onto her face. The two of them had been sneaking around for nearly two weeks, their moments few and far between, while they travelled with the Raw brand. No one knew about them, just yet. She smiled as he stepped on the bus, and she bent her head down to continue scribbling in her diary. She felt a hard pull on her arm, and she gripped her diary tightly, jumping up and stumbling after CM Punk. Her face turned into a scowl, before he winked at her, and pulled her bag up from the chair. He pulled her down the aisle, his hand tightly gripped around hers, and he found a seat for them at the back of the bus, where a few of their friends were sitting. His hazel eyes glanced behind him at the confused expression on Zoe's face, and a smirk found its way on his face. The past two weeks of sneaking around had annoyed him to say the least. He wasn't going to let a good thing get away from him, and he wasn't going to hide her from anybody. He threw her bag in the overhead tray, and gently pushed her in the direction of the window seat, whilst he took the aisle seat. Zoe opened her mouth to tell him off, but was silenced by the quick kiss Punk gave her.

"Oh finally!"

Zoe glanced over Punk to see Mike in the opposite row of seats, who was looking heavenward. She rolled her eyes, "What's wrong, Mike?"

He waved his arm theatrically, pointing at them, "This! Finally! I can't tell you how frustrating the sexual tension was between you two!" He grinned evilly upon seeing John Cena entering the bus, making his way down the aisle to the seat in front of Punk and Zoe, "Yo Cena! Punk's banging your cousin!"

Zoe lunged over Punk to slap Mike, while Punk grabbed her waist to pull her back, his laughter filling the bus. John raised an eyebrow at the group of friends, throwing his bag into the vacant seat next to him. "I know."

Punk paused, dropping Zoe half sprawled over his lap, "You know?"

John pointed at the skirt and top Zoe was wearing, "She's dressing like a woman now. Of course I knew something was going on."

Zoe threw her shoe at John, who ducked just in time to let it fly over his head. He jumped up, his maniacal laughter echoing in the back of the bus. Her eyes glanced past John to see Nick Nemeth making his way down the aisle, with Nikki and Brie following him. Mike grinned at the newcomers, "Nick, did you know about Punk and Zo?"

Nick barely blinked as he moved into his seat, "Yeah, her Victoria's Secret stuff got mixed up with Nikki's." He sent a wink to Punk, "Those were some hot gees-OW NICOLE!" Nikki sent an innocent look to her boyfriend, rubbing the sore spot on his head. She sent an apologetic smile to Zoe, before pushing her boyfriend into his seat in front of Mike Mizanin.

Punk tried to hide the smirk that was growing across his face. Zoe looked half amused by the antics that had just occurred around her. The Straight-Edge superstar wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to his side. His smirk softened to a smile as she curled closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder. He glanced down at her, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. "Sooo," drawled Punk, winking at Zoe.

Zoe rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he wanted. She slapped his stomach lightly, smiling at the annoyed snort from the older man, "Saving that Victoria's Secret stuff for a special occasion, Champ."

The pout Punk sent her made her grin, "What kind of special occasion?"

John's voice broke into their conversation, "A special occasion that I don't want to hear about. I may be okay with this, but I'm sitting in front of you, and I really do not want to hear what you plan on doing to my cousin."

"It's more that I plan on doing your cousin."

"We are no longer best friends. Do not speak to me for the rest of the bus ride, while I get these horrible images out of my head."

* * *

><p><span>January 29th, 2012<span>

The 2012 Royal Rumble was being held in St. Louis, Missouri. It was one of the biggest events of the year, and Zoe was busy running around backstage, making sure everything was going according to plan. Ever since the incident with John Laurinaitis, the past Raw show had run smoothly, and the lead up to the Royal Rumble had gone off without a glitch. John Laurinaitis had apologised multiple times to the Board of Directors, and it was eventually decided that his on screen persona would be maintained, much to the delight of Stephanie McMahon, who was taking a strong interest in the development of his character. He was powerless, and unable to argue anything that they had planned for him. He was still to be the Guest Referee for Punk's Championship match, but was instead reduced to more of an enforcer role, for no matter how much he apologised, no one wanted to take the risk of him screwing Punk over. The event had officially started and Daniel Bryan had just retained the title against Big Show and Mark Henry. The Divas were scheduled soon, and Zoe was running through the backstage area to the gorilla area to make sure everything was going smoothly. She skidded around a corner, her face lighting up when she saw her friends ready and gathered around the monitor bay.

"Ladies, ready?"

Beth Phoenix spun around, and grinned at her friend, "As always. I do enjoy kicking dumb bitches around."

Eve Torres rolled her eyes, "It's like we are not even friends, Beth."

The Divas Champion shot her a grin, "Not my fault you're on the wrong team."

Natalya patted Eve's shoulder, a mock sympathetic look on her face, "One day, you will join the dark side."

Eve sent a frantic look at Zoe, who laughed, "Eve, seriously, we've got plans for you-"

"I've been pushing Matt around in a wheelchair all afternoon. It better be better plans than that."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "He's not even injured."

The Colorado native snorted, pointing behind Zoe's shoulder, "You've created a monster, look!"

Zoe spun around to find Matt Cardona in his wheelchair, charging straight for Mike Mizanin, who was being pushed in his own wheelchair by Punk. The two collided into a heap, and laughter erupted from the group of superstars. Zoe shook her head, turning back to the group of women gathered around her, "He's your boyfriend."

Eve pushed her tongue into her cheek, her arms folded across her chest, "Your boyfriend is now doing wheelies in Matt's wheelchair."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"I saw you mount him in catering."

Zoe spluttered for words, before watching in shock as Beth did some sort of dance on the spot. She raised an eyebrow, "What the hell was that?"

"Finally!" She squealed, throwing her hands in the air, "It's about fucking time. I told you it would happen!" Beth spotted Tamina Snuka approaching the girls, and she quickly grabbed Zoe's arm, pulling her to the tall woman, "Excuse us! Hey, Tamina!"

The taller woman stopped and smiled at the approaching duo, "Hey Beth, what's up?"

Beth pushed Zoe forward, "This is Zoe Winters. She's part of the Creative team. Zoe, this is Tamina."

Zoe extended her arm, smiling at the Diva, "Nice to meet you." She cast a curious glance at Beth, "What did you do?"

Beth smirked, "I'm sure you, just like everyone else, is sick of the constant Beth vs Kelly Kelly matches at PPVs. So I decided that I needed someone to help me put on an exciting match. And since Eve is busy getting stalked by Kane, I thought Tamina would be a perfect substitute."

The brunette Creative writer tilted her head, pondering the idea. It was true that the overused booking of Kelly and Beth was starting to grow stale. Truth be told, it was stale from the beginning. Eve had performed perfectly against Beth at Survivor Series, however with her recent involvement in John and Zack's storyline, booking her in the Diva's match would be too complicated. Zoe had seen Tamina wrestle a few times, and knew that Tamina was probably the best face wrestler they had among the Divas. She sent a smile at Tamina, "I'll see what I can do, but I'm pretty sure we can work something out for Elimination Chamber."

Another voice interrupted their conversation, "What's happening at Elimination Chamber?"

Zoe looked heavenward, before turning to face the blonde Diva known as Kelly Kelly, "A Diva's Championship match, Barb."

The blonde's face lit up, "Great!"

"Mmm, I know. I was just telling Tamina that she would be perfect for it."

A scowl clouded the face of the former Diva's Champion, "Are you serious? Her?"

"Yes, her!" spat Zoe, "Because she can put five moves together that aren't going to feature on the highlight reel of Botchamania." She held up a hand as Barbara opened her mouth to retort, "Please don't. Convincing me you can wrestle is growing old."

Barbara pushed her tongue into her cheek, unimpressed, "You are a bitch."

Zoe smirked, "And I really don't give a fuck. Have a nice match, Barbara." She watched as the blonde disappeared towards the gorilla area. Zoe waved to Tamina and Beth as they also made their way to the area to get ready for their match. Beth had planted an amazing idea in her head, and one that could finally get rid of Kelly Kelly from the spotlight, and maybe, just maybe, the Diva's Division could revert from being an embarassing mess.

* * *

><p>Zoe hadn't seen CM Punk after his Championship match with Dolph Ziggler. She'd been too busy prepping with part of the roster for their Royal Rumble match appearances. A few of them were mere spot fillers, but others were being used to set up different storylines. In particular, Cody Rhodes, who was too busy giggling with Paul Wright over something, and was not listening to her at all, earning him a slap across the back of the head by his ex-girlfriend, Beth, who was helping Zoe. Eventually, the event was underway, and the final entrant had entered the ring, much to Zoe's relief. The night was going amazing, and nothing had gone wrong. She crossed her fingers, not wanting to jinx herself. Moving away from the gorilla area, she entered the monitor bay to find the rest of the non-competing roster gathered around the monitors, cheering for their friends. The winner had not been released to anyone else but those participating in the match. Stephanie McMahon had decided it would be more exciting for everyone backstage to watch. Zoe's eyes drifted over the assembled group, and she smiled when she spotted her cousin sitting on a chair next to Matt and Eve. She sat on the vacant chair next to him, and grinned at the group.<p>

"Well done on the match, by the way."

Eve smiled from her perch on Matt's lap, "I think I should start a side career of being a soap opera actress."

Zoe laughed, glancing at the television. Her cousin, John, watched as she then glanced around the room, and he smiled to himself, knowing who she was looking for. He winked at her, "Punk just went to get changed. He'll be back-"

His words went unheard as Zoe spotted the WWE Champion emerging from a hallway. Jumping up quickly, she hurried towards him, throwing her arms around his neck. Punk chuckled, his arms tight around her waist, squeezing her to him. He leaned back, sending her a wink and a smirk, "I should win matches more often."

The Creative writer blushed, standing on her tiptoes to see eye to eye with the Straight-Edge Superstar. She leaned forward to press her lips quickly to his, "Congratulations Champ!" She mumbled against his lips.

Punk's eyebrows rose when she kissed him, but he softened, smiling as he kissed her back. He pulled back, "You knew I was going to win, but."

"I was still scared something would happen."

He nodded, before taking her hand to lead her towards the assembled group of Superstars. Falling into the chair next to John, Punk pulled Zoe onto his lap, his head resting on her shoulder. John Cena rolled his eyes, his attention never veering from the television. "I'm surrounded by-" He blanched as Matt grabbed Eve's face to kiss her, "Good god, stop that!" He swatted his friend over the head, "Jesus Christ." He shuffled his chair forward to watch the rest of the Rumble, "When you detach your faces from each other, I'll be over here disinfecting my eyes."

Punk smirked into Zoe's shoulder, his focus on the monitor in front of him showcasing the match. The final two in the ring were Sheamus and Chris Jericho. The word around the backstage area was that Chris was to win. Either way, Punk still had no idea which Championship the Creative team had decided that the Royal Rumble winner would choose to wrestle for at Wrestlemania. He knew Zoe was fighting for him to be in a storyline with Jericho, but he wasn't so sure yet. He squeezed Zoe tighter to him, "So who wins?"

Zoe shook her head, eyes never leaving the match on the television, "I'm not telling you. I don't even know to be honest."

"You're a very bad liar, you know that right?" The scowl on Punk's face softened a little when Zoe kissed him quickly, "I thought having a Creative writer as my girl would get me special insider knowledge." He tried to shove her off his lap, "You are of no use to me."

The small brunette wound her arms around his neck, her dark eyes sparkling with amusement, "And I thought having the WWE Champion around would jumpstart my aspiring wrestling career. Guess you're just as useless."

Punk smirked, leaning forward to kiss her, but broke away when he realised there were a pair of eyes staring at them, "What, Ryder?"

Matt gaped at the couple, "Your relationship worries me."

CM Punk gripped the young woman in his lap tighter to him, and sent a smirk to his friend, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Ryder."

Zoe glanced behind her at the dark haired man, and grinned to herself. Even after everything that had happened, this felt so right. She was beyond happy. She just hoped that it didn't come crashing down around her, like it did all those months ago.

* * *

><p><span>February 3rd, 2012<span>

"We have to end this storyline."

"When?"

"At Elimination Chamber."

Zoe Winter's eyebrows rose towards her hairline, and she looked quizzically at her employer, Stephanie McMahon. She folded her arms on the table, "We only have two weeks till Elimination Chamber. How are we going to finish up this storyline in one Raw show and one Pay Per View?"

Stephanie McMahon ran a hand through her hair, sighing, "We will book an Ambulance match at Elimination Chamber."

"That's a bit lazy." Zoe slapped a hand over her mouth at the outburst, "Oh my god, I am so sorry."

The chuckle that came from next to Stephanie had both women turning to face the man, "Guess our resident mouthpiece has been rubbing off on you." Paul Levesque leaned forward in his seat, laughing at the dark blush that covered Zoe's face, "I have to agree with Zoe at the sheer laziness of this booking, however we have no other alternative. People are responding poorly to this storyline with John, Eve, Zack and Kane. It's just not working like we wanted it to."

Stephanie cut in, "The reality is, as much as we wanted John to be cheered at Wrestlemania, it's not going to happen through this storyline."

Zoe sighed, pursing her lips, "So we're going to have to try to win them over by building the angle more with Dwayne."

The McMahon daughter nodded, reaching forward to hand Zoe a sheet of paper, "Here are some ideas for John and Dwayne over the next few weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. That will be our focus from now on. No more storyline with Kane, that's completely over."

"What happens to Zack and Eve?"

Stephanie furrowed her brow, looking curiously at her young employee, "What do you mean?"

Zoe held up the sheet, "We've got John covered, but what about them?" She watched as Stephanie and Paul shared a glance with one another, and she realised what had occured, "Nothing is happening, isn't it?"

Paul scratched his forehead, "They were just going back to what they were doing before."

Zoe's heart sank at the revelation. It was unfair to her friends to not be given another chance. Despite the fact that the storyline wasn't being well received, they were still popular Superstars, and Zoe knew that all they needed was the right storyline to make the fans interested in them and the angle. She chewed her lip, thinking for a moment. Matt had already had the United States Championship taken off him. The last thing she wanted was for him to go back to obscurity after they had built so much momentum for him. Taking a chance, she knew she had to try. "May I offer to change it up a bit?" asked Zoe. She paused, waiting for their approval, and at their nod, she continued, "I could do something for Eve and Zack. You want this story to wrap up by Raw for Zack and Eve, and then for John at Elimination Chamber? I think I can come up with something."

Stephanie McMahon smiled at her young employee, "Are you sure? We've got a lot going on with Wrestlemania."

"I can make it fit into the storylines that you have planned for Wrestlemania." Zoe leant forward in her seat, her notebook open and ready for the Creative session, "What have we got so far?"

Paul grabbed another piece of paper from his wife's folder, "We've got Rock and John. Taker and myself. Punk and Jericho. Sheamus and Bryan. Rhodes and Big Show. That's all the Championships-"

"What about the Diva's Championship or the United States one?"

Paul sighed, "We want to see how Tamina goes at Elimination Chamber. Then we will decide if we want a gimmick match or a Championship match." He held up a hand as Zoe opened her mouth to protest, "Zoe, I understand where you are coming from. But no one is interested in the Diva's division. This match at Elimination Chamber has to go well in order for us to even think of putting it as a Singles match on the card. Without the Money in the Bank matches, we need to have something other than single matches to make the card interesting, and unfortunately, the Divas might be that scapegoat and we may do a tag team or something."

Stephanie took over from her husband, "We also need to come up with about 2 or 3 more matches to add to the card. With the times we are thinking these matches should go for, we are short almost an hour. And if we make the matches longer, we may lose interest with the fans." She shuffled her papers together, "However, right now we need to focus on the Elimination Chamber." Stephanie shot a smile at Zoe, "Let me know how you go with the Eve and Zack angle. I'm trusting you make the right choices."

Zoe returned the smile, and stood up to leave the room. She had a lot of thinking to do, and a lot of talking over with Matt, Eve and John to make this storyline go out with a bang.

* * *

><p><span>February 13th, 2012<span>

"There's going to be a last minute change to the Punk/Miz match up tonight."

Prior to the show, the group of Superstars and Divas performing in the live show would have a meeting to quickly run through what was going to occur on the show. Zoe's head shot up with interest as Paul took centre stage to address the assembled group, and her eyebrows rose considerably at the sudden change in the final match of the Raw show.

"It's being cut down to four minutes."

Mike raised his hand, "Why?"

"We don't have time for you."

CM Punk snorted, "Are you kidding me? What? We are going to fill the show with more talking?" He stood from his seat, a glare marring his features, "Why does OUR match have to be cut down?"

Paul clenched his jaw, his eyes stern, "I don't want to risk any injuries to you before Sunday night."

"Really, Paul, really?"

The COO of the company glared hard at the former WWE Champion, "Yes really, Mizanin. I'm not risking anyone being in the ring with you, considering how you managed to fuck up one of the competitors already!"

The roar from the COO stunned the group of wrestlers into silence, and even CM Punk looked alarmed by the outburst. He knew about the incident. It occured during the Raw show a week prior. There was a 6 pack match, and Mike missed his spot and Truth went crashing to the floor, knocking his head hard against the floor. In all honesty, it was an accident, and the Miz was not wellknown for botching any of his moves. However, considering how serious the spot was and the fact that Truth was scheduled to participate in the Elimination Chamber, the Executives backstage were none too pleased. After the accident had occurred, Mike received an earful backstage from Paul Levesque. Clearly, he had not forgotten and Mike was still being punished for the accident. Paul signalled that the meeting was over, and the wrestlers moved from their seats, heading to their respective locker rooms. Zoe caught the eye of Punk, and she made her way over to him. The Straight Edge Superstar wrapped an arm around her shouders, guiding her down the corridor.

"What the fuck is up with Paul?"

Zoe sighed, "He's a bit high strung. Randy isn't cleared for the Elimination Chamber. We have to find someone else. He just doesn't want the same to happen with Raw." She reached up to kiss him quickly, "I have to go do my rounds. I'll find you later, good luck." She headed in the opposite direction, and bumped into a hard chest, "Sorry!"

John caught her arms, smiling down at her, "Hey babygirl."

The young woman grinned at her cousin, "Johnny." She wrapped an arm around his arm, and walked down the corridor with him, "Nervous?"

He readjusted his cap on his head, "A little. Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

Zoe looked momentarily appalled, "Are you doubting me?" She nudged him in the ribs, a cheeky grin on her face, "Performance anxiety?"

"You're a brat."

Zoe rolled her eyes, "Is Liz breaking your balls over it?"

A snort rang out in the corridor, "Liz is always breaking my balls."

The dark look on his face as John spoke, worried Zoe. She stopped to face her cousin, a frown on her face, "Is everything okay? I can change it if you like. Is it causing problems with Liz?"

John smiled, tugging her closer to him. He dropped a small kiss to her head, "There's already problems, baby girl. You don't need to worry. She's fine with this. She knows it's not real."

As they continued down the hall, Zoe couldn't help but wonder why her cousin looked so sad and hurt as he talked about his wife. They wee high school sweethearts, and sure they had had their previous troubles, but she never thought it had gotten bad again. She hugged his arm tighter to her, hoping it would offer some comfort to her older cousin. There wasn't much she could do, but she knew she would be there for him no matter what.

* * *

><p>True to her word, Zoe found CM Punk later. The WWE Champion was warming up for his match in the monitor bay. Zoe watched as his face relaxed when he caught sight of her, and she smiled at him. Her mind stil couldn't process that the two of them were developing some sort of relationship, despite all their previous issues over the past few months. She sat in the seat next to where he was stretching, her eyes glued to the monitor as John and Kane's promo started. She watched in interest as John pulled Eve out of the ambulance, and it drove away, leaving the two of them to stare at each other. The few wrestlers that were in the monitor bay all gasped in disbelief as Eve grabbed John and kissed him.<p>

A thud occurred next to Zoe, as CM Punk lost concentration in his stretches and fell over, "Holy shit." CM Punk spluttered for words, and turned to see the smirk on Zoe's face, "What? Why- What the hell was that?"

Zoe's smirk only got bigger, "Eve's heel turn."

Punk eyed her warily, "You're enjoying these heel turns too much." A stage hand called him over to the gorilla area, and he planted a kiss on her lips, "Be good."

"Always."

Her eyes stayed trained on the monitor as CM Punk's match against Mike started. A noise to her left startled the young woman and she turned her head to see Chris Irvine sitting beside her. He flashed her a grin, and offered his hand, "We haven't really been formally introduced. I'm Chris."

Zoe laughed, "You guys don't have to introduce yourselves. I know who you are." She shook his hand, "But I'm Zoe, by the way."

The blonde man smiled at her, leaning back in his seat, "I was wondering if I could talk to you about my feud with Punk."

She rolled her eyes in good nature, "You're as bad as Phil. The feud has barely started and you guys want information already."

Chris waved a hand, "That's not what I meant. I wanted to ask you about having some more Creative control."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "With your angle?'

The Fozzy singer smiled, "Exactly. Look, I know we aren't main eventing Wrestlemania, but I also don't want our storyline getting lost amongst John and Dwayne and Taker and Hunter. They're all intriguing, but I want to make sure ours is just as good. I'm a veteren of the business, and Punk has shown he is capable of cutting amazing promos, so I want to ask if we could help out on the story. We'll obviously run it past you, but I really want us to create something real."

The brunette woman regarded the man beside her for a moment, and she sighed, "The last time I let someone have Creative control, he held the WWE up for ransom."

Jericho chuckled, "So I heard, but you can trust me on this one. Punk and I will bring out the best in each other. You just have to trust us."

Zoe nodded, "I'll run it past Stephanie, but I'm sure it will be fine." She spotted Punk making his way backstage, and she jumped up, "Anyway, it was nice to finally meet you properly. I'll let you know as soon as possible what we plan on doing."

As she curled into Punk's sweaty side, she didn't have time to see the smirk on Chris Irvine's face grow. She had no idea what he really had planned, and she wasn't going to like it. What she had planned in her head for the two was very different to what Chris thought would be best for the two of them. Unfortunately, she was going to have to wait and see just like everyone else. As she ran through a bunch of ideas in her head, Punk's voice cut into her thoughts, "Huh?"

Punk smirked at her, "It's Valentine's Day tomorrow."

"And?"

"Want to go out?"

Zoe rolled her eyes at the unconventional nature of the WWE Champion, "That would require us to be already going out."

His smirk only got bigger, "You're my woman. Of course we are going out."

Zoe smacked his stomach, laughing, "Alright, Casanova, if you insist I'll go out with you."

"Rad."

He leaned down and kissed her again. Zoe didn't mind that he was all sweaty from his match. Nothing was going to stop her from the happiness she was currently experiencing with him and her new WWE family.

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><p>AN: Let me know what you all think! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon :)


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: To make up for my horrid updating, I have a quick update for you. Thank you for all the reviews on the previous chapters, and for all those concerned that I had given up the story, don't worry I'm not giving up :) If you haven't already checked out my other story, Bright Lights, it's been updated as well, and the response has been amazing for both of these stories. Thank you!

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><p><span>February 19th, 2012<span>

"Stop staring at my face, Cena."

"You have amazing cheekbones."

CM Punk spluttered for words, shooting an incredulous look at his friend, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

John Cena reached out to touch Punk's face, to which Punk slapped his hand away. John frowned, "It's not my fault I'm not used to this." He gestured towards CM Punk's clean shaven face, "It's freaking me out."

"You're freaking me out."

"It's so nice to see you two getting along again," quipped Zoe, as she breezed past them, her arms filled with scripts and booking sheets for the Elimination Chamber PPV that night. John and Punk hurried after her, each grabbing part of the pile of scripts that were weighing the small woman down. She sent an appreciative smile their way, and gestured for them to follow her to the catering area, "Ready for tonight, ladies?"

John snorted, falling in step next to his younger cousin, "Nice. I'm ready as always." He shot a cheeky smile at her, his head inclining towards the WWE Champion's clean shaven face, "By the way, did you have anything to do with that?"

Zoe didn't even miss a beat, "I don't like the feeling of facial hair." She shot a seedy wink at her cousin, "You know."

"Oh my god." He stopped and dumped his pile of scripts on top of the pile in Punk's arms, and hurried away, "I'm going to go throw up and maybe die."

CM Punk watched in amusement as his girlfriend's small body shook with laughter, her eyes dancing with mirth at her cousin's reaction to her cheeky remark. He raised an eyebrow, and she merely smirked at him, rising on her tiptoes to kiss the WWE Champion. He chuckled when she pulled away, following her towards the catering area, "You're a brat."

"He put me through enough torture as a child. It's about time he copped some back." She entered the catering area, and vacated a table for Punk to put the pile of scripts on. Her lips curled in a small smile, and she reached up again to kiss him quickly. She hummed against his lips, "I do quite like this look." Punk let a smirk form, before kissing her again, his arm reaching out to wrap around her waist.

A third voice broke the moment between the two of them, "Punk, stop fraternising with the writers."

Punk stepped back from his girlfriend, a smirk growing bigger on his face as his eyes met Paul Levesque's own dark eyes, "Your employees just can't resist me." He winked at his girlfriend, "I have to get ready for my match. I'll find you later, woman."

Paul Levesque raised an eyebrow, "Woman?" He rolled his eyes, rubbing a hand down his face, "I'm getting too old for this."

Zoe patted his arm, gently, and handed him one of the scripts from the table, "Everything alright?"

The COO of the WWE smiled at her, straightening out his tie, "Everything is fine. I wanted to commend you on a nice turn around with the Eve Torres storyline. Unexpected, but people are reacting well to it. What have you got planned for her tomorrow night?"

"I want her to get caught out for using Zack and John to make her way to the top," said Zoe. She grabbed a bottle of water from the table next to her, and took a swig, "We're kind of low on the heel Divas. Plus, I'm hoping to book her strong in upcoming matches. Have her turn against Kelly Kelly."

Paul's eyebrows raised towards his hairline, "You really dislike that girl, don't you?"

Zoe pursed her lips. She knew she was acting too much on personal issues when it came to the booking of Kelly Kelly, however something needed to be done to revive the Diva's division and she made a promise to her friends, she would. Folding her arms across her chest, she sighed, "I dislike the fact that she's being pushed harder than the girls with actual wrestling ability." Her face darkened, "You're lucky I'm keeping my mouth shut about what you've done to Natalya." Natalya had returned to Smackdown to help the Divas over there, however, Jake Ritter was in charge of a majority of the storylines over there, and managed to place her in a particularly embarassing one, involving her having a flatulence problem. The blonde Diva had been mortified, and was in tears on the phone to Beth and Zoe. Zoe had tried to ask Steph if she could make any changes, but with Wrestlemania coming up, they wanted Zoe on the bigger storylines helping out. Stephanie had made a few calls, and the storyline was going to be scrapped after two weeks. Two weeks was too long in the eyes of Zoe, however Ritter had spun some excuse that he had better plans for Natalya and Stephanie had fallen for it. Zoe raised an eyebrow at her employer as he stood before her, shuffling nervously on his feet, "She's a Hart, and that's the respect she gets?"

"Unfortunately, that was a mistake. It slipped past our knowledge-"

"Because you couldn't care less about the Divas."

Paul clenched his jaw, trying not to snap at the young woman in front of him, "Zoe, I'd be careful if I were you."

Zoe sighed, her glare disappearing, "I'm sorry, but it's frustrating to go two steps forward, and one step backward."

"I understand," said Paul, a reassuring smile on his face, "However, I need you to concentrate on the major storylines right now." At Zoe's nod, he took a step closer to her, his voice dropping to a quiet whisper, "Your cousin has asked for more appearances to be organised for him-"

Zoe frowned, "More appearances?"

"I think, Miss Winters, he wants less time at home," said Paul, quietly, "Have a word to your cousin, will you? I don't think everything is as sunshine and daisies as he makes it out to be." With that said, Paul disappeared from the catering area, leaving Zoe Winters, confused and worried. From the previous week, she knew that her cousin was having problem,s but she was unaware that it had gotten to the point of him not even wanting to be at home. She chewed her lip, worried. The last thing she wanted was for her cousin to be going through all of this alone. Zoe needed to have a chat with him very soon. She glanced at her watch, realising that it was close to the start of the show. This talk would have to wait for now. Now, she had to concentrate on the show, and making sure everything went according to plan.

* * *

><p>"Hope I didn't kick you too hard, man."<p>

Chris Irvine waved a hand, dismissively at the WWE Champion. As per the booking of the WWE Championship match, there was a scheduled spot where CM Punk was to kick Jericho on the head, allowing him to fall out of the Chamber, and knocking himself out so he was unable to compete for the remainder of the match. It was the best way to set up their feud, as it had been decided that Chris Jericho would be the one to face Punk at Wrestlemania for the title. Chris held an icepack to the back of his head, gingerly, "It's fine, Punk. I smacked my head on the camera man." He nodded towards the mentioned camera man, who also had an icepack to his head, "I think he came off worse for wear."

Zoe smiled, "I was worried! You pulled it off very well!"

"I've been knocked out that many times, that acting it out was easy." He waved his hand again, "I'm fine guys. Get out of here. Go enjoy your night." CM Punk and Zoe nodded at him, and Punk slung an arm over her shoulders to lead her out of the medical room. Chris called out for them again, "Oh, and Miss Winters, I'd like to have a chat to you about what I mentioned the other week."

"Of course, Chris. I'll get a meeting organised."

CM Punk raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, as he led her to his locker room, "Meeting?"

"He has some ideas about your storyline," answered Zoe, wrapping an arm around Punk's waist, "You guys may not be the main event, but I want you to be up there with the Taker match, and Rock and John. So, I'm taking any help I can get."

"Ooh! I have an idea!" Zoe raised an eyebrow at him, amused, and the WWE Champion continued, "How about I win at Wrestlemania?"

Zoe chewed her lip, a smile curling her lips. She didn't say anything, and Punk poked her side. A giggle escaped her, but she shook her head, "I'm not saying anything."

CM Punk rolled his eyes, a chuckle leaving his lips. He hugged her tightly to his side, turning the corner to find his locker room. He really wanted to win at Wrestlemania, however, as long as he put on one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches, and their storyline got some more notice than the others, he was content. His arm squeezed Zoe more to his side, and he glanced down at her. He had a lot of good things going for him. Punk shook his head in disbelief. After the debacle of last summer, he wouldn't have believed that he would be in the position he was now. He had more pulling power backstage. He was being respected by Executives, and his peers. And as he leaned over to kiss the crown of Zoe's head, he realised she was the other part of making him happy over the past couple of weeks. Maybe 2012 was going to be an amazing year for CM Punk.

* * *

><p><span>February 20th, 2012<span>

"Is it just me or when Divas turn heel, their dresses get shorter and, for a lack of a better word, boobier."

"I think you mean sluttier."

Eve Torres shot a glare at Beth Phoenix and Zoe Winters. The Divas Champion and Creative writer were watching in amusement, as Eve tried on a series of outfits that the wardrobe team had picked out for her. Struggling to keep her breasts in the small black dress she was trying on, Eve threw it off, glaring at the pile of offending outfits that she disliked. She crossed her arms over her chest, and frowned at the last few remaining dresses on the clothes rack assigned to her. "This is horrible. Can't I wear my own clothes?"

"No."

Zoe snorted, while Beth tossed another dress to Eve. Zoe sat back in her seat, as Eve disappeared behind the curtain to put the new dress on. Her eyes glanced at Beth, "Nice match last night."

Beth smiled. At the Elimination Chamber the previous night, Beth had retained her title against Tamina Snuka. The up and coming Diva had performed well against the Glamazon, and their match went for a decent amount of time, and garnered quite a reaction from the crowd. The Divas matches of late had never really got the crowd excited, but this one seemed to interest people. Finally a quality wrestling match was put on between the Divas. "Thanks. I really enjoyed working with her." She paused, and looked at Zoe, "But you're not going to use her for Wrestlemania, are you?"

The brunette tossed her hair to the side, a frown on her face, "How did you know?"

The Glamazon shrugged, "I overheard that rat, Jake Ritter, talking to one of the other writers."

Zoe sighed. It had been a good idea at the time. Tamina was a strong wrestler, however the girl lacked promo skills. Badly. With a month from Wrestlemania, there was no way they were going to build a convincing feud with someone who couldn't get a crowd over with her promos. Beth could draw heat easily, but Tamina would struggle to assert herself as the babyface. The decision had been made during the day. They commended her performance, but wanted to find an alternative for the Divas. "She hasn't got good promo skills. I pushed for you guys to get a Diva's match at Wrestlemania, yesterday. It took some convincing but Paul and Stephanie are now onboard. However, it might be a tag team match."

Beth shrugged, "I'm just glad we are going to be at Wrestlemania." She paused, furrowing her brow, "But Natalya's back at Smackdown. Who the hell am I going to be tag teaming with?"

At that moment, Eve exited the curtain to parade the new dress that was slightly more decent than the others. She spun in a circle, before realising the two women were staring at her. She frowned, "What?"

Zoe shared a look with Beth, and Beth smirked, "Perfect."

* * *

><p>CM Punk leaned back in his seat in the monitor bay, and slung an arm around Zoe's chair. The two were seated amongst a few other Superstars, and Paul and Stephanie Levesque, watching the opening of Raw. Eve Torres had just been caught out by John Cena for using Zack Ryder and him to make her way to the top. Right now, Eve had followed John Cena out to the ring, and interrupted his promo on the Rock. Punk glanced at Zoe, who was on the edge of her seat. The young writer was particularly nervous about the promo. It was designed to humiliate Eve, but also set the stage for her new heel persona. It had been agreed that John just had to make a few remarks about her being a hoe, much to Zoe's exasperation, but John assured her, it was what needed to be done for the crowd to hate Eve, and make her a perfect heel. Zoe had cringed at the boos her cousin had been met with. Paul was right. The Kane storyline had not worked well at all.<p>

"John, please. It was taken out of context. Let me explain, please!"

"Woah, woah, hold on there. First of all, if you want to talk, speak up. Second of all, I think you've been talking quite enough. She wants to explain." John Cena paused, as the crowd continuously booed for Eve, "I was there for all that rigamaroo backstage. I will take the liberty to fill you guys in with the cliff notes." Eve tried to cut him off, but John continued, "No, no, no, no. That's okay. Eve, here, has apparently been sipping the skank juice." The crowd went wild, and backstage, everyone was intrigued with where John was going with this, "And her plan is to use her assests to further her career."

Eve spoke up, "John! John! No! Listen to me. We've been friends for a long time, John. It's me. John-"

"Friends?" exclaimed John, "Friends? You want to talk about friends? Because of you, I lost a damn good friend in Zack Ryder. I lost a broski for a hoeski."

The crowd continued to cheer, and backstage, CM Punk threw his head back and groaned, "Hoeski is now going to trend worldwide, I just know it."

Back in the ring, John hyped up the crowd, "I want to hear them chant Hoeski!"

Eve continued to scream for the crowd to be quiet, so she could explain, "John! We were just joking around-"

John Cena looked incredulously at her, "Joking around?" He paused, his face lighting up, "Wait. Wait. Something amazing just happened. It just hit me. You shouldn't be wasting your time with me. Hold out for the bigger fish. Hold out for my Wrestlemania opponent, The Rock." The crowd cheered, and John continued, "Wait, wait. Because you're both completely disingenuous, totally egomaniacal self centred, and you will use anybody to get what you want. You guys are perfect for each other. You're both scandalous bitches."

Zoe buried her face in her hands, her eyes peeking out through her fingers as the old John Cena started to surface through her cousin's promo. She caught the smile and the little 'my bad' from John as he looked into the camera. She knew that was directed at her. Her eyes glanced over at her employers. While Stephanie looked scandalised, Paul had a small smile curling his lips, seemingly impressed with the display in the ring. Zoe turned her attention back to the ring, and watched as Eve dropped to her knees, her face upset and crying over the embarassing promo. John Cena watched on, guilt clouding his face, as the crowd chanted hoeski, and Eve sobbed on the floor of the ring. John reached to help her up, but Eve quickly latched onto him, trying to kiss him, and the former WWE Champion flailed his arms, wildly, trying to get the woman off of him. Two referees appeared in the ring to pull Eve Torres off of him, and John moved away quickly, picking up a discared microphone.

"For your information, I'm disease-free, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Backstage, Zoe Winters let out a shriek, while a booming laugh escaped her boyfriend. CM Punk couldn't contain his smirk as he got up to greet his best friend. John Cena made his way backstage, high fives being thrown his way from his coworkers. Punk shook his head chuckling, shaking John's hand, "Now, that was impressive."

John grinned at him, before yelping in pain, as a folder smacked him across the head. Zoe glared at her cousin, smacking him over the head again with her folder, "What is wrong with you? Who says that?"

John Cena swiped the folder from his cousin's hands, and held it high above his head, watching in amusement as Zoe jumped up and down to reach it, "I just did my job."

"You took it too far."

"Oh, c'mon the Rock bit was good."

"I'm talking about the disease part."

John's face fell, and he shrugged, "Sorry. Won't happen again." He quickly turned on his heel and left the monitor bay. The group of gathered wrestlers all shared a confused look, and Zoe caught Paul Levesque's eye from his spot away from her. His words ran through her head, and she gasped. She pushed past Nick and Matt, and chased after her cousin. She caught up with him, as he entered his locker room. He sat down on the bench, his head in his hands, and Zoe entered the room, quietly. He looked up at her, and sighed, "What?"

Zoe took a step closer, "That disease free was about someone else, wasn't it?"

John Cena closed his eyes, a heavy sigh escaping him, "Yes." He felt Zoe move closer to him, and he reached out a hand, pulling her into his lap. He buried his head into her neck, and Zoe wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders. For many years when they were growing up, it was usually John that was comforting Zoe, but right now, as Zoe felt him shake against her, she knew it was her turn to look after her cousin. He raised his head from her shoulder, his eyes sad, "People change. You think they're someone else, but you soon find out they're not that person. They're something else entirely, and I'm not sure I like that."

"What happened with Liz?"

"When we separated before I proposed to her, she was seeing some guy. I don't blame her for that. I was seeing someone too." He paused, a frown on his face, "But now, they're talking again. She claims he's just a friend. But lately, she's been acting wierd. Getting on my case about stuff. Especially the house. She's renovating the whole thing without telling me. Using up the money on so many unnecessary things."

Zoe rested her head on his shoulder, "Have you tried talking to her about it? What about therapy?"

John sighed, "It's not just that." He shuddered, and took a breath, "She doesn't want kids."

At that point, Zoe's heart broke. John looked like he was in tears, and Zoe didn't blame him. She knew how much he wanted kids. He adored his younger fans, and being part of the Make-A-Wish foundation, only fueled his desire for a child of his own. He had nieces and nephews from his brothers. And Zoe's own siblings had kids that John dotted on, but she always wondered what exactly John and Liz were waiting for. Now she finally knew. Zoe had liked Liz, but had initially been hesitant on her. Her other cousins had warned John she was only in it for the fame, but John had dismissed them. He had loved Liz for many years, and Zoe was happy to see her cousin finally happy. But right now, as the former WWE Champion sniffed back a few tears, she couldn't help but feel sad for him. She wiped a tear from his face, and kissed his cheek, "I'm sorry, John."

He struggled to put a smile on his face, "I'll be fine. I just need to think some things over."

Zoe hugged him tighter, "You know I'm here for you right?" John nodded, and she leaned over to kiss his cheek again, "Love you."

"Love you too, Zo." He patted her back to push her off, "You've got to keep the show under control. Go, it's fine. I'll be fine."

Zoe nodded, and headed for the door. She paused in the doorway, and looked back at her cousin, "I really hope you have kids. You'd be a good dad."

John smiled at her, his dimples slowly forming, "Thanks, baby girl." His smile grew a little, "And even if I don't, I'll just spoil yours and Punk's kids rotten."

Zoe only shook her head, laughing as she left his locker room. Strangely enough, she didn't even object to his little remark. She glanced up and caught sight of Punk, lurking in the corridor. She knew he was waiting for her, and she rushed towards him, throwing her arms around him. He stumbled back, and chucked, "I know I'm irresistable but could you try to resist throwing yourself at me?" He grinned as she leaned up to kiss him. Pulling away, he slung an arm around her and guided her back to the monitor bay, "John ok?"

"He's fine. Just some problems. You should talk to him later. Get him out of his rut."

"I'll take him out for icecream."

"You're such a girl sometimes."

Punk growled, pinching her hip, "And you're a brat."

"There you are!" exclaimed Paul. The pair stopped in front of Paul, and he loosened his tie around his neck, "Is everything okay?"

Zoe nodded, "It's what you thought."

Paul nodded, "Thought so. Anyway, I just discussed it with Stephanie and Vince. We liked that side of Cena. That's the old Cena we signed back in 2002. That's what we want to go up against the Rock. The two best talkers-" A cough interrupted him and he shot an exasperated look at Punk, "Two OF the best talkers in the business. I want amazing promos from the two of them. Do you think you can do that?" Zoe nodded and he smiled, turning on his heel to leave. He stopped and turned back to them, "Oh by the way, Punk. You're going to be needed at Smackdown tomorrow. You have a mainevent match against Daniel Bryan."

Punk stared at him, "What? Why?" He pointed at himself, "You want two indie shmucks to mainevent Smackdown? Didn't you see how that turned out on Raw a while back?"

The COO only smirked at him, "It's an experiment. We need to see if something works before we plan to go ahead with it. Good luck, I'll see you later."

Punk stared after Paul as he disappeared around the corner, and he frowned, "I don't trust that smirk. Last time, I saw that, I almost got discombobulated by his best friend."

Zoe snorted, "You're a tad dramatic."

"I had a concussion."

"You did not."

"You're not a very caring woman, are you?"

She leaned up to kiss him quickly, "You could get rid of me."

CM Punk smirked, tugging her closer to him, "Now why the hell would I do that after all the trouble it took to get you?" His smirk grew as he caught sight of the blush that tinted the cheeks of Zoe. "That was good, wasn't it? OW!" Zoe smacked him hard across the chest, and he rubbed it gingerly.

"Smooth, Casanova. Smooth."

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><p>AN: Hope you all liked that! Review and let me know what you think :)


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you to all the amazing reviews and alerts! Sorry for the delay in update! It's been exam time again and I kept putting off writing. I hope you guys enjoy!

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><p><span>24th February, 2012<span>

"You must be Miss Zoe Winters."

The loud voice startled Zoe Winters. Hunched over her desk, she was so consumed in the script rewrites for Monday Night Raw that she hadn't even noticed the door swing open. The intruder flashed her a wide smile and stepped inside her office, his large frame towering over her. Pushing her glasses up onto the top of her head, Zoe raised a slim eyebrow at the Hollywood star in front of her, "Can I help you, Mr Johnson?"

He waved a hand dismissively, "Call me Dwayne, please." Zoe watched amused, as he took a seat in front of her without any invitation. The man known to millions as The Rock shot her a grin again, "I've heard a lot about you, Miss Winters-"

"Since we've put aside the formalities, just call me Zoe."

His grin only widened, "My apologies, Zoe. As I was saying, I've heard a lot of things about you."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, the corner of her lips curling, "I can only hope good things."

"Of course. You've managed to change things up a bit around here. A lot has changed since I've been here." He leaned back in the chair, his eyes intent on Zoe, "That's why I'm here to speak with you, because you seem to be the one to make things happen around here."

The young Creative writer shook her head, a small laugh escaping her lips, "I try to make things happen, Dwayne. I still need to get the okay from Stephanie McMahon." She pulled out a notepad from her desk drawer, and grabbed a pen to write down anything, "But I can try for you, considering you are one of the biggest stars of this company." She had emphasised the word 'one', and instantly she had noticed a small flicker of emotions on the Rock's face. She had heard countless stories about the Rock from when he had appeared at the last Wrestlemania. Not many people had high praise for the actor who had turned his back on the company. Zoe wasn't impressed either with Mr McMahon's insistence on allowing Dwayne to be the main event of Wrestlemania. She knew Stephanie and Paul were adamently against it, however once Vince's mind was set, there was no way in hell of changing it. Zoe didn't share the same view as he did of putting the Rock on a pedastal, and wasn't impressed with what her cousin, Mike and various others had told her about his conduct over the past year. Zoe also had quite the vivid memory of Survivor Series. While she never got the chance to work with the Rock, she saw how he had humiliated her cousin at the end of the PPV. She always tried to separate her personal feelings from her work, but this man was making it hard to. She tried to hide her smirk that was threatening to curl her lips, as she watched Dwayne keep himself in check.

She admired that the Rock managed to maintain the wide grin on his face, "I want to know how you'll be building my feud with Cena up."

"We have you scheduled to appear at the next five Raw shows leading up to Wrestlemania. It's important that the hype be built up significantly because we don't have a PPV for over a month and we want people to stay interested," She twirled the pen in her hand, absentmindly, "There will be no physical confrontations between the two of you as per Vince's orders. It will mainly be mic work and interfering in John's matches." Her hand flicked to tap her pen on the notepad, "Unlike the other writers here, I actually listen to what the talent here wants and I try to let them have some input into their angles. So I'm all ears for you."

Dwayne Johnson nodded his head, leaning forward in his seat, his elbows resting on his knees, "I want different outlets to have promos on Cena. Too much in ring mic work will tire the crowd. A Rock concert like I did many years ago would be alright. We're also in Boston next week. I want to use his hometown against him. Do some sort of history lesson about Cena."

Zoe nodded, scribbling down the various ideas for the man, "Well this week is a bit short notice on your participation, so it will have to be just a simple in ring promo with John. It will be mainly you, and you'll run John down. We'll have him come out to say a few and then he'll disappear and you can continue to end the show." She shuffled a few papers around to find an outline for him, "Here's basically your main points you need to get across."

The Rock took the paper from her outstretched hands, his eyes scanning over the paper, "You know I like to write my own things."

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, "I noticed. Just we need you to at least get all these point across, otherwise we're going to have you out there for ten minutes talking about fruity pebbles." Dwayne's eyebrows rose quickly, his face moving its attention from the paper to look at Zoe and Zoe realised her mistake. She gaped for a second before laughing nervously, "Anyway, if you could just run your promo by us before the show that will be great. Anything else?"

"Will I be winning at Wrestlemania?"

Zoe froze at the question, her eyes widening slightly. She had a feeling that he would ask, and she honestly wasn't prepared for it. There had been much debate between all the Executives backstage about who would win the match, and it was still undecided. Zoe thought they were probably not going to decide until the last minute. Stephanie McMahon had pushed for the idea to stall as she wanted to see if Cena could really win over at least half of the crowd before Miami. Pursing her lips, Zoe answered, "It's not decided."

"Undecided?"

She nodded, her dark hair bouncing, "Everyone is quite divided over who should win. We will let you know as soon as the decision is made." Judging from the look on the Rock's face, she knew he was dissatisfied with the answer. Zoe's eyes followed him as he stood from the chair, and Zoe quickly stood up as well, extending her hand to him, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Dwayne."

The Hollywood actor smiled at her, "You too." Zoe hadn't even sat back down before she heard his voice again, "Beside all the good things you've done recently for this company, you've made some questionable ones as well. I'd hate to see you drop the ball on another angle, especially with myself and John."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, her arms coming to fold over her chest, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Dwayne stood behind his chair, his arms resting on the back of it, "How does an indie shmuck like Brooks go on to become the WWE Champion for so long? How does another indie boy like Danielson fit the mould of a World Heavyweight Champion?"

"Like you said, things have changed around here."

"I never said for the better."

Zoe shrugged her shoulders, "Obviously, the company has seen how hard they have worked and are rewarding them with the WWE's highest honours. Not all of us get the red carpet rolled out for us every time we make an appearance at Raw. Hard work is what gets you places."

Dwayne clenched his jaw at the young woman in front of him, "Do we have a problem?"

She couldn't help but form a small smirk, "Oh I'm not the one with the problem you need to worry about, Dwayne." Judging from the look on his face, she knew the Rock understood exactly what she meant. The WWE roster was not entirely pleased to have the Rock back, and several of them had made their voices heard already. Knowing the loudmouth and blunt nature of her boyfriend, her cousin and her friends, Zoe knew Dwayne Johnson was in for an unpleasant 6 weeks travelling with the Raw and Smackdown crew. As the young Creative writer watched Dwayne leave her office, she let out a small sigh. She shuffled the papers around on her desk, before another knock on the door interrupted her. She lifted her head, and a broad smile grew on her face at the sight of CM Punk leaning against her doorframe. He had been staying with her in Boston for the past week, and flew down to Connecticut with her for two days while she worked, "You're spending your day off in WWE Headquarters?"

The WWE Champion smirked, "Came to take my woman out to lunch."

"Call me your woman one more time, and you won't have a woman no more."

Punk let out a bark of laugher, "You're in a fine mood."

"I just had a meeting with the giant ego."

He raised an eyebrow, taking a step inside her office, "Dwayne? How'd that go?" At the look Zoe shot him, he snorted, "You have fun with that."

Zoe rolled her eyes, grabbing her handbag from the bottom drawer of her desk, "It's my fault I'm so good at my job that they stick me with the important storylines." She slid her hand into Punk's, leaning up to kiss him quickly.

CM Punk grinned down at his girlfriend, pulling her closer to his side, "And you think his ego is large?" She sent him a scowl, and he leaned down to kiss her again, "Oh by the way, did I mention I'm getting a tour bus?"

"Perks of the new contract?" Zoe stifled a laugh at the eager nod Punk did, "Aren't you a lucky boy."

"Want to be my other road wife?"

Zoe looked appalled at him, "Other?"

"Well I had to ask Kofi first."

Zoe shook her head, her laughter echoing in the elevator of the WWE offices, "Yes, Punk, I'll be your other road wife. I can't believe you made me second choice."

Punk kissed behind her ear and wiggled his eyebrows at her, "Trust me, you're first choice for other activities."

There was a resounding slap across Punk's chest, echoing in the lobby of the offices,"You're a pig."

* * *

><p><span>February 27th, 2012<span>

The Raw show in Portland, Oregon was officially underway, and as usual, Stephanie McMahon and Zoe were furiously rechecking over the night's schedules and Creative parts to make sure everything would run smoothly. Currently being shown on the monitor in their office was CM Punk being attacked by Chris Jericho in the opening segment of Raw. Zoe chewed her lip, watching her boyfriend scream in agony. Sometimes, she couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. But judging by the look on Punk's face, the Walls of Jericho were quite painful. Stephanie McMahon suppressed a smile at the worried look on her young employee's face. She patted her arm gently, bringing Zoe out of her stare, "He's fine. Chris knows better than to actually hurt the poor guy."

Zoe sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I do not understand how you can do it. My stomach churns whenever they look like they're injured."

Steph laughed, "Trust me. Sometimes they're actually hurt. The rest of the time Paul milks it for all its worth so he doesn't have to do anything but pass out in front of the television for a few days." She watched as Zoe smiled, taking another glance at the television as the segment ended, "How are you and Punk by the way?"

Zoe turned to her employer, a small smile on her face, "We're good. It's easy that we're on the road together. I can't imagine what it would be like otherwise."

Stephanie McMahon sent her a teasing look, "Who knew after the way you punched him that night that you two would be together now." She laughed, putting a folder to the side, "My girls think it's adorable. They were playing with their action figures the other day roleplaying your wedding day." Zoe raised an eyebrow, a small blush covering her face, "They've decapitated Kelly Kelly's doll and made it you."

Zoe looked horrified, but broke into a laugh, "Your children are insane." She had met the three young daughters of the Levesque-McMahons and they were absolutely gorgeous. The eldest one had the uncanny ability to break out into a nervous giggle whenever Punk and John were around, which Zoe found hilarious. Zoe had told Paul that his oldest would probably take after her mother, to which he looked mortified at and responded that she wasn't dating till she was 30 or ever. Zoe glanced up at the doorway, and noticed Chris Irvine standing there, "Hey Chris, what's up?"

Chris smiled, stepping inside, "Just wanted to have that chat with you ladies that I was talking about."

Stephanie smiled at him, pointing to a vacant seat across the table for him to sit in, "About your storyline?"

Chris nodded, "Don't get me wrong. I definitely want to be in a storyline with Punk, however I want to be the aggressor leading up to Wrestlemania. Plant that seed of doubt in people's minds that Punk will lose at Wrestlemania-"

"We haven't even decided who will win," cut in Zoe.

The former Champion shrugged, "I honestly don't mind losing. I'll put him over. The guy has lost 2 years in a row already at Wrestlemania, and he's on a roll so far." He leant back in his seat, "I want to play some mind games with him. We're both strong on promos and Punk's been dominating everyone on it, but for once, I'd like to sort of catch Punk off guard with our promos."

Stephanie shared a look with Zoe, seemingly impressed with Chris's proposal, "Next week we've got already two promos scheduled with Taker and with Rock and John, but the Cleveland show on the 12th? You can begin your mind games with Punk. Just run it past one of us first what you're planning and we'll let you know exactly how that fits in with our plans, and we can organise a write up for you."

Zoe continued, "You won't be having any one on one encounters with Punk, just like we're doing with John and Dwayne. But you'll be interfering in matches and getting the upper hand on him in tag teams."

Chris nodded, "Great. I just don't want to get lost amongst Taker's feud, and the Great One's moment." He sent a look at Stephanie and the Billion Dollar Princess rolled her eyes, causing a laugh to leave Chris' lips, "I bet you're already copping crap about bringing him back from everyone else."

"Don't remind me," drawled Stephanie.

The Canadian stood up, his hand reaching up to brush his hair back, "Thanks ladies. Really appreciate it. Can't wait to see how it turns out." The two women failed to notice the smirk on his face once his back was to them. He had been thinking over and over about his plan for his feud with Punk, and just like he said, he wasn't going to get lost amongst the other feuds. Their feud was going to stand out, but maybe not for all the right reasons.

* * *

><p>It was nearing the end of the Raw Supershow and Zoe was in the monitor bay, watching the action unfold on one of the screens beside Punk. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Dwayne Johnson standing there, running over his lines. Her brow furrowed at the sight of him pulling out a black marker and scribbling down something on his arm. Her eyes widened. There was no way in the world that the Rock was writing promo notes on his arm. She nudged Punk in the side with her elbow, causing him to emit a grunt. She pointed in the direction of the Great One, and Punk snorted, "Oh this is amazing."<p>

Zoe grinned, watching as the Rock scribbled a bit more on his arm, "Great promo guy my ass. He can't even remember his own work."

Punk shook his head, laughing, watching as the Rock then disappeared into the Gorilla area to make his way down to the ring for his promo to end the show. He raised an eyebrow at Zoe, "So is John going out there as well?"

"Yeah just to say a few things about kicking his ass or something," She paused, her mouth forming a small o and she jumped up from her seat when she spotted her cousin emerge from the hallway, "John!" Zoe ran over to him, as much as her heels would let her, and pulled on the collar of his shirt to lean down to her height. Punk watched, curiously as his girlfriend whispered something into the ear of her cousin. He watched as John's face lit up into an almost evil smirk, and instantly Punk knew what she had told him. He leaned back in his seat, knowing that this was going to be an interesting segment of Raw. Zoe hurried back to his side, her face lit up with an almost identical smirk to the one that Cena wore on his own face. Punk raised an eyebrow at her, and she grinned, "Oh you'll see!"

The majority of the Raw roster had turned out to the monitor bay to watch the promo from the former full time WWE star. In the usual Rock fashion, he was pushing to trend the most juvenile of phrases. No one backstage was particularly impressed with the kung pao bitch line or the line about Cena's lady parts. As John Cena's music hit, Zoe watched in anticipation to see what her cousin was going to do. Judging by the smirk on his face as he made his way down to the ring, she could tell that he was definitely going to use what she had told him against the Rock.

"Woah woah woah, this was too much fun! I was not going to miss this!" started John, the wide smirk still on his face, "This is perfect Rock. The Rock comes out, does his schtick, holds the millions in the palm of his hand like only the Rock can do. But I must admit, I didn't come out here to swing for the People's strudel or whatever you're calling your penis now a days."

CM Punk looked over his shoulder at the exasperated look on Paul Levesque's face, "And you guys get worried when I'm on a microphone." He smirked as Paul stuck his finger up at him, and Punk let out a laugh as Stephanie slapped her husband's hand, "I'm rubbing off on Golden boy over there."

Zoe stiffled a giggle, "Actually that was my line."

CM Punk looked in awe of his girlfriend, "I've trained you well."

Back out in the ring, John Cena continued on his promo, "I came out here to tell you you're right. I'm that guy who runs you down when you're not here. But as usual, like everything else, you're only half right. Because I'm the guy who runs you down when you are here." He paused, his smirk still in place, "See these people love the Rock. I was one of these people. Until I got to meet Dwayne Johnson." He was pleased with the hesitant look in the Rock's eye, "Dwayne Johnson is a self centred, egotistical, seethrough son of a bitch that wouldn't give a rat's ass if this company closed its' doors tomorrow." The Rock continued pacing, whilst John went on with his promo, "Now I don't need words like loyalty and respect to trend worldwide." He pulled off his wristbands, "Just like I don't need my promo notes on my wrist. Nice tattoo."

"He has his promo written on his wrist?" shrieked Stephanie McMahon. She threw her hands in the air, "He was just asking for it."

As John told the Rock he was going to beat the hell out of him at Wrestlemania, the former WWE Champion dropped his microphone and left the ring. Not once did his smirk faltered, and for once in a very long time, some of the crowd was actually cheering him on. Backstage, all the Superstars congratulated him and watched as the Rock tried to continue his promo. However, they all watched in awe as the Rock struggled to stay composed and he repeated himself over and over. The man was obviously shaken up from his apparent humiliation by John Cena. After he delivered his signature line, the Rock threw his microphone down and much to the backstage area's amusement, the camera caught him mouthing the words 'motherfucker' live. Zoe grinned, wrapping her arms quickly around her cousin, "That was brilliant, Johnny, well done."

"CENA!"

Paul Levesque shot an amused look at his wife, "Is it just me or do promos always seem to be going wrong lately?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes, pulling her husband along to find out why Dwayne Johnson was so irate. She knew exactly what was wrong but wanted to hear it first from the self proclaimed People's Champ. They had witnessed the promo between him and John, and she was impressed. John had held his own and managed to shake the Rock up so much that the man wasn't able to pull off the rest of his promo convincingly. "Gentlemen, is everything alright here?"

"You have no right to come out there and point out something like that!"

John Cena only smirked at the Rock, "I got you good didn't I?"

"You made me look like a fool in front of those people!"

"I'm pretty sure you made yourself out to be a fool after you called him a kung pow bitch."

Dwayne's head snapped to the right to spot Zoe Winters standing there, her hands on her hips and a triumphant smirk on her face, "Excuse me?"

"You want to pull off a convincing promo next time? Then maybe get the experts to do it for you. Maybe we will make it memorable enough for you that you might even remember it."

The Rock took a step closer to her but was stopped by CM Punk who stepped in front of Zoe, a smirk also on his face, "Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The Rock frowned, his eyes darting between the two and his eyebrow raised, a disbelieving smirk on his face, "When I asked you, Miss Winters, how someone like Brooks could stay Champion so long, you failed to mention you were sleeping with him." He folded his arms over his chest, his smirk still in place, "Are you sleeping with Danielson too?"

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you," snarled John Cena, his arms gripping Punk back tightly from punching Dwayne in the face, "You have no right to speak to my cousin like that."

Dwayne scoffed, before a bark of laughter left his mouth, "Jesus Christ!" He threw his hands in the air, his attention turned to Stephanie and Paul, "Is nepotism the backbone of this company? Do you give weekly classes on how to get to the top, Paul? By staying on top of the help?"

Within seconds, a swarm of Superstars descended upon the group. John, Punk, Paul and even Stephanie McMahon were being held back by Superstars from attacking the Hollywood star in front of them. Stephanie struggled against the hold Beth Phoenix had her, and was struggling to keep her, in, "You are lucky, Dwayne, that my father puts you on a pedastal. If only he knew what you were really like, we wouldn't need you here."

Dwayne grinned, a pleased look on his face as he regarded the group of irate Superstars and Executives in front of him, "But that's the thing, Stephanie. You need me. This company needs me. Why do you think I'm back for all the Raw episodes leading up to Wrestlemania? Because your father noticed the dipping ratings. I'm here to fix that." He turned his attention to Zoe, who was behind Punk's shoulder, "Your intention for change, Miss Winters? It's not translating to good ratings. Maybe you might want to reconsider the people you are using." He paused, smirking at the look on the faces of the Superstars gathered around her, "Or better yet, figure out which ones are using you."

* * *

><p>Zoe Winters didn't say a word to anyone whilst the arena was packing up. She had gathered her belongings after Dwayne Johnson's outburst, and headed towards her rental car without saying anything to anyone. She avoided all her friends, and decided she needed to head back to the hotel. Zoe didn't want to admit it. She knew her friends better than that, but Dwayne had planted the seed of doubt in her mind that if she took any of them out of the main event scene, or took their titles away, would they still be her friends? She felt terrible thinking about it, and fell back against her bed with a groan. It felt like highschool all over again and she was not wanting to live through that disaster again. A knock at her door startled her, and she groaned, lifting herself off the bed to open it. She didn't bother looking through the peephole, as she could narrow it down easily to who it might have been. Swinging the door open, she offered a half smile to the WWE Champion, standing before her.<p>

"Hi."

"Hey Punk."

The WWE Champion scratched the back of his neck, nervously, "You took off after the show. We were wondering where you went."

"I was just tired," replied Zoe, leaning against her doorframe, "It was a long show and I barely slept last night doing the rewrites."

Punk watched her, curiously, "Anything else?" Zoe shook her head, and he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Okay, fine. I'll let you sleep. Goodnight."

He didn't even kiss her goodnight, and Zoe watched as he turned to go back to his hotel room before calling out to him, "What if I made you drop your title?"

Her eyes noticed immediately as Punk's shoulders dropped. The WWE Champion turned around, a strange look on his face, "What?"

"If at Wrestlemania, would you be okay with dropping the title to Chris Jericho?"

The realisation of what she meant hit Punk hard, and he threw his arms out to his sides, "Are you fucking kidding me, Zoe? You really believed what that jerk said?"

Zoe was taken aback by the roar from her boyfriend, and she flinched at the noise. A door across from her opened, and John Cena stepped outside, a curious look on his face. "What the hell is going on?"

Punk all but growled, "Ask your cousin."

John took a look at his cousin, and raised an eyebrow at how quiet she was. He remembered what the Rock had said at the end of Raw, but he didn't think that Zoe would actually take the words to heart. He shook his head, "Zoe, what's wrong?"

Zoe blinked back the tired tears that were threatening to spill, "Nothing."

"Nothing my ass!" yelled Punk, earning another lot of spectators in Mike Mizanin and Maryse stepping out of their room to see the commotion. Punk stepped closer to Zoe, still only a foot or two away from her, "You really think that we're all using you? That if you make me lose, or John lose, or Beth lose, that we would honestly turn our backs on you. Do you really take us for that kind of people?"

"No, I don't!" yelled Zoe.

"Well then why did you ask?" yelled Punk, "Clearly you thought about it. It crossed your mind!"

"I just wanted to be sure!"

Punk's yells only got louder, "Well here's your assurance, Zoe! Yes I will still fucking love you even if you make me drop the title!"

There was an immediate hush of silence, and everyone's faces looked shocked. Eve and Matt, who had just exited the elevator, stared at the WWE Champion, "What?" They all stared at the WWE Champion. His outburst had startled all of them. He glanced around at all of them, and shook his head, disbelieving that he had blurted all that out. With a sigh, he turned on his heel, and headed towards his hotel room a few doors down, the slam resounding through the small hotel corridor. Eve stared at Zoe, as she let go of Matt's hand to step closer to the young girl, "Zoe, what the hell happened?"

Zoe's eyebrows furrowed together, her eyes still looking in the direction that Punk had disappeared in, "I made a mistake."

Eve shot a look over her shoulder at Maryse, who quickly came over, wrapping an arm around the young girl. The women disappeared into Zoe's hotel room, leaving John, Mike and Matt in the corridor. Mike spluttered to find the right words before bursting out with, "Did he just say love?"

John scratched his head, "That was fucking wierd."

* * *

><p><span>February 28th, 2012<span>

"He said what?"

Zoe struggled to keep her best friend quiet as they walked towards the bus that was going to take them to the next arena in Seattle, Washington for the Smackdown taping. As it was the Road to Wrestlemania, some Raw Superstars were required to go as part of their media and promotional work. Beth Phoenix had latched onto Zoe's arm the next morning after Raw, and had been filled in briefly by Eve and Maryse on the saga that occured the night before. Zoe raised an eyebrow at her, "I accuse you guys of possibly using me and you're more concerned about Punk's outburst?"

Beth waved a hand dismissively, "Oh please. I know you just had the Rock's words running through your head. You know we would never use you. We love you. And speaking of love, so does Punk." She almost skipped on the spot much to her fellow Divas' amusement, "This is so adorable."

She struggled to keep a straight face at the look of glee on Beth's face, "You're awfully chipper today."

Maryse snorted, "Clearly someone got some."

Beth shot a look at Maryse, "Shut up, Maurice."

Zoe's eyes widened, "WHO?"

A blush stained the cheeks of the Diva's Champion, "Adam Copeland."

"YOU WHORE!" cried Zoe. Beth wrapped a hand over her mouth, giggles escaping her mouth as she tried to keep Zoe quiet. Zoe wriggled out of her hold, and jumped up and down on the spot, her hand gripping Beth's arm, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We're keeping it quiet until Wrestlemania."

Zoe shot a glare at Maryse, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Maryse paused from examining her nails, "I'm sorry, weren't we on the topic of Punk saying he loves you?"

Eve laughed, wrapping her arm around Zoe's other side, "Don't mind her. So do you love Punk?"

The silence that followed, and the growing blush on Zoe's face made the group of women squeal with delight. Maryse pushed Eve aside, wrapping her arm around Zoe, "You guys are so cute. Punk is a lucky guy."

Beth grinned at her, "I can see it. The way he looks at you and is always around you. The guy is in love, and trust me, I can tell." She hugged Zoe, "I know it wasn't the most romantic way to hear it, but at least now you know."

Eve pushed Maryse out of the way, "We know you're sorry about last night. The Rock is a jerk, and I'm not going to lie, if I was in your shoes, being new to this world and all, I would have that tiny bit of doubt too. But I want you to know, that we love you dearly, and are not using you at all." She sent a pointed look at Zoe, her arm looped with hers, "You made me a whore for the world to see. Clearly, our friendship is super tight." Zoe laughed, and Eve smiled at her, "It's all good Zo. Just concentrate on making it up to Punk."

* * *

><p>"You love her. You want to kiss her. You want to hug her."<p>

"I want to punch your teeth down your throat."

John Cena snorted at the pout of Mike Mizanin's face as he stopped his horrid song and dance in the aisle of the bus that was taking them to Seattle. They were waiting for the rest of the Superstars to arrive, and John was eager to see if his cousin would be travelling with them after last night. He knew she had made a mistake thinking what she had thought, and he was willing to look past that. The Rock had planted that idea in her, but he knew his friends better than that and he knew they weren't using her. She had called him that morning to apologise, and he told her not to worry about it. What was on his mind however was how his best friend was going to cope with seeing Zoe after last night. CM Punk was glaring pointedly at Mike, who had finished his annoying teasing and was sitting gloomily in the row behind John. John's eyes lit up as he watched Eve, Beth, Maryse and Zoe board the bus. He cast a glance across the aisle at Mike and Matt, who were sprawled across their own rows. Maryse and Eve took their spots next to their boyfriends, while Beth slid into the seat next to John. He grinned at her and gestured his head towards Zoe. Beth sent him a wink and he knew everything would be alright.

Punk glanced up as Zoe took a seat next to him, her handbag in her lap. He frowned, watching as she fiddled with a plastic bag inside of it. Finally, she pulled out the bag, and handed it to Punk, a small nervous smile on his face. His eyebrows furrowed together, and he pulled out the item from the bag, and a small smile grew on his face. It was the latest volume of the Walking Dead trade paperbacks. He opened it up, and noticed a small note tucked into the front page. Unfolding it, his smile only grew at the words scrawled across it, 'I love you too.'

"I'm sorry."

Punk barely caught the whisper from his girlfriend sitting beside him, and he turned his head to her. He reached a hand out and cupped her cheek, gently, "I would never give you up. You mean more to me than my title."

Zoe smiled, leaning into his hand, "Love you."

The WWE Champion grinned, leaning forward to kiss her soundly on the lips, "I know. I love you too." He looked over her head to spy the small toilet cubicle at the back of the bus, and he wriggled his eyebrows, "Want to go make it up to me?"

"Jesus Christ, Punk! I'm sitting right here!"

Zoe Winters burst into laughter at her cousin's outburst, and slid onto Punk's lap to kiss him quickly, "You're a perv. But you're my perv." The WWE Champion hugged her tightly on his lap, and Zoe grinned at him, "I'm sorry."

"I said forget it. But don't you ever think that again, ok?" She nodded, and Punk smirked at her, kissing her again. He held her tightly in his lap. He was right when he said that she meant more to him than his title did. No matter what the Rock said, Zoe was part of their WWE family. No one was using her, and she wasn't using them. He leaned his head against her, and looked down at her with a smile. Sure, he wanted to win at Wrestlemania, but as long as he had Zoe, he was pretty content with whatever was going to happen. John Cena glanced over the back of his seat at his best friend and cousin. His eyes scanned over his other two friends and their respective girlfriends, before he stopped on Beth sitting beside him. She was texting someone and judging by the smile on her face, a male someone. She caught him looking and frowned at the sad sigh that left his lips.

"You alright?"

John nodded, readjusting his cap on his head, "Yeah."

Beth shook her head, patting his hand on the seat rest, "We've been friends how long John? Look I kind of gathered what was up, after hearing about you wanting to tour more." She glanced at the happy couples around her, "You'll get through this."

"You think so?"

"I think so. And even if you don't.. touch wood," She rapped her knuckles across his head, earning a laugh from John, "Even if you don't, you know that there is plenty more out there who will see what a great guy you are." Her eyes noticed the tired look on his face, "You need to concentrate on your Wrestlemania match, and then maybe you should take some time off John. You've been doing this for ten years full time? I think you've earned your time off."

John ran a hand over his face, "But the fans-"

"You're like your cousin. Be selfish for once. If you want the time off to fix your marriage, then do it. And I know your brother is sick as well. We're your WWE family, but I know your Cena family would be glad to have you for a few weeks."

The former Champion smiled at the words from the blonde woman beside him, and he leaned over to wrap her in a hug. As he pulled away, she smiled at him, and he nodded, "I'll definitely have a think about it." He paused, a shit eatting grin on his face, "So how's Adam?"

"I am seriously no longer friends with Maryse."

* * *

><p>AN: My apologies for making Rock out to be a douche but I had to do it otherwise everyone would've got along and it would've been boring as hell. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and leave a review if you wish!


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Eeekkkk I'm soooo sorry again! I'll be on break again soon so hopefully I can get some more frequent updates! Anyway here is the latest chapter, enjoy! :):)

* * *

><p><span>4th March, 2012<span>

"So, how many brothers do you have, Zoe?"

"Three, Punk."

"And how many brothers does John boy over here have?"

"Four."

"Great. And why didn't I just stay at the apartment where I won't be at risk of being castrated?"

Zoe sent him a smile over the back of her seat, "Because you love me."

"Not right now I don't." He glared pointedly at John Cena, who was chuckling in the driver's seat of the car, "When is Mizanin getting there? I don't think I've been more excited to see that annoying jerk."

Zoe snorted, turning her attention back to the view outside the car. The Raw crew had arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, for the live Raw show. The next few weeks were going to be hectic, and it had already started with the lead up to this show. Every single Raw and Smackdown was important in establishing the feuds and storylines for Wrestlemania. And with the biggest match in history as the main event, the pressure was on for the backstage personnel of the WWE to get this right. Considering the past few months had been a rollercoaster, no one was more on edge than Zoe. Somehow, she had moved her way up the ladder to Stephanie's right hand man, and she was pretty much overseeing every single feud. She was exhausted already, and having the next few days in her hometown of Boston was a blessing. She missed her family terribly, and she knew it had been a while since John had seen his. Her eyes caught the eyes of Punk's own hazel eyes staring at her through the rear view mirror. Her lips curled at the sight of her boyfriend. It was his second time meeting her mother, and this time, Zoe actually liked him a whole lot better than the first time. However, her mother was still going to threaten him within an inch of his life. Her smile grew as John pulled up to his mother's house, her eyes taking in the sight of all the cars parked in the driveway and on the street outside. She shot a glance at John, realising when he said family, he meant the ENTIRE family. As they piled out of the car, Zoe slipped her hand into Punk's own, and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

Punk smirked, "What was that for?"

"Thank you."

His face softened, "Anything for you, Princess."

A gagging noise was heard from behind them, before John Cena pushed past the two of them and headed for the front door, "You guys nauseate me." He knocked on the door, shooting a warning glance over his shoulder at the couple behind him, "Behave."

"Johnathon!" cried an older woman, as she threw open the door. Within seconds, John's mother had thrown her arms around her son, hugging him tightly. "I've missed you so much!" She pulled back from him, a wide smile on her face. She caught sight of Zoe standing behind John, and Carol Cena didn't spare a moment in pushing past her son and grabbing her niece in a hug, "ZOE!" She pulled back, holding Zoe by the shoulders, "You look too skinny. Haven't you been eating?" Carol glared over her shoulder at her second oldest son, "I thought I told you to look after Zoe, Johnathon!" A snort of laughter was heard and Carol turned to see CM Punk shaking with laughter at the misfortune of his friend. Her face softened into a smile, and she hugged Punk, much to his discomfort, "Philip, so nice of you to join us." She shot him a quizzical look, "I thought you were coming later with the others but?"

Zoe cut in, "I invited him, Aunt Carol, if that's alright?"

Carol raised an eyebrow, "You invited him?" Realisation dawned on her face and the three WWE employees watched in amusement as she did some sort of skip on the spot, "OH! I can't wait to hear all about this." She stepped forward, looping her arm through her niece's arm, "Now come in and let's go see everyone, and in the meantime, Zoe, you will be telling me everything." John's mother threw another glance over her shoulder at the WWE champion, "And I mean everything."

"MY BABY!" John and Punk snorted at the sight of Lisa Winters running up to her daughter and almost knocking her over with the force of her hug, "Welcome home!" Moving from her daughter, she quickly kissed her nephew, John, on the cheek, before stopping in front of Punk. She raised an eyebrow, pulling her daughter next to her.

The darked haired girl smiled sheepishly, "Mom, you remember Punk?"

Lisa narrowed her eyes, "Do we still hate him?"

Zoe bit back a laugh, "No, no, mom, we like him."

"Actually, in Zoe's case, she loves him."

Punk and Zoe's eyes widened, before they stared at John Cena, who only grinned at them, his dimples etched clearly on his face. Zoe spluttered for words, while her mother looked at her, amused, "Love?"

Zoe ran a hand through her hair, "Punk's my boyfriend."

Lisa Winters held back a smile at the pair, and turned her attention back to Punk, her eyebrow raised, "Not trying to ruin my daughter's job anymore?"

The WWE Champion smirked at the older woman, "No ma'am. I'm more intent on her keeping it so she can stay with me."

"Nice save," replied Lisa, stepping forward to give the man a hug, "Welcome to the family, I'm sure you'll get a harder time from her brothers and cousins."

"So I've been told."

Lisa snorted, "Oh you have no idea."

* * *

><p>CM Punk really had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he was slowly becoming aware. After he was introduced to John and Zoe's respective fathers, and then John's four brothers, he was then introduced to Zoe's three brothers. All were older than Zoe, and Punk was quite sure one of them tried to break his hand while they were shaking it. With a Pepsi can in his hand, he talked with Zoe's oldest brother, Scott, who was with his wife, Sarah.<p>

Sarah smiled at Zoe, "So how long are you in Boston for? We haven't seen you in ages. And the kids miss you so much!"

Zoe grinned, "We are here for four days." She looked around the backyard at the few kids that were already playing soccer, but frowned at the absence of Scott's two, "Speaking of kids, where the hell are they? I haven't heard anything breaking yet so I assume you've locked them upstairs or something."

Scott rolled his eyes, "They were watching a movie. They wanted nothing to do with us until Uncle John and Aunt Zoe got here." His lips quirked in a knowing smile, as he looked at Punk, "Oh Bella is going to have a field day with you."

As if on queue, two small dark haired children came sprinting through the backdoor into the yard. They weaved their way around the adults, intent on joining in with their cousins for the soccer game. Breezing past their parents, the two ignored them, before Sarah called out to them, "James! Bella! Get back here right now!"

With exasperated looks on their faces, the 8 year old boy and 6 year old girl headed back to their mother, their shoulders dropped in defeat. Zoe raised an eyebrow, "Guess you brats aren't my favourite kiddos anymore!" Her face lit up with a huge smile as her niece and nephew looked up in shock to see their aunty, and they sprinted towards her. Zoe knelt down, her arms wide as she caught the two in a hug, laughing as they squealed in her ears. "Hey munchkins, did you miss me?"

"Did you bring me back presents?"

"James!" shrieked Sarah, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Zoe clucked her tongue at her nephew, "Do tickets to Raw tonight count?" She watched as his face lit up, "I'll even take you backstage and you can meet some people."

"Can I meet Eve?"

"You're 8 years old and already interested in women. Clearly you are your father's son." Zoe bit back a laugh as James grinned cheekily at her. She turned her attention to Bella, her smile softening at her niece. Like Zoe, Bella was the only girl in the group of cousins so far. Zoe couldn't deny that Bella was her favourite, and she knew she was rubbing off on the small girl. Her eyes took in the pink poofy skirt the girl was wearing and the pink converse. She laughed, "Don't you look cute, Miss Bella?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips, "Don't ask how much we bribed her just to even wear that skirt. She's exactly like you Zoe."

Bella grinned, "Mommy, can I go play soccer?"

At her mother's nod, the small girl wasted no time in trying to pull the white jumper over her head. Zoe snorted, her eyes taking in the tshirt that the young girl was wearing. She covered her mouth, trying to keep in the laughter. Biting her lip, she grabbed her niece and nephew's hands and winked at them, "Want to meet a superstar thats not John Cena?" At their eager nods, she spun them around, and laughed as the two gasped at the sight of CM Punk. "Look who it is!"

CM Punk smiled at the two. He'd had his fair share of experience with kids. He'd dealt with his friend Natalie's son, and had various encounters with kids on Make-A-Wish trips. He knelt down in front of them, reaching out a hand to shake both James and Bella's hands and then he spotted Bella's tshirt. He let out a bark of laughter, and Bella blushed furiously, "That's a nice tshirt you got there, sweetie."

Bella grinned, pulling on the tshirt to show him properly, "It's you, Punk!" She twirled around in a circle showing off the small grey In CM Punk We Trust tshirt that she had thrown on to wear with her pink skirt. The small girl tilted her head, looking at him curiously, "Why are you here?"

Punk smirked, "I'm here with your Aunt Zoe."

The six year old looked between her aunt and the man in front of her, her forehead crinkled in confusion, "With my aunty Zo?"

"Yes."

She looked back and forth between the two again, and her eyes widened, "Do you hold hands?"

Punk bit back a bark of laughter, his eyes dancing in amusement at the curious girl in front of him, "Yes we do," He choked out, his body shaking with laughter as realisation dawned on Bella's face.

The young girl grinned and jumped up and down on the spot, "Yay!" She cried, throwing her hands up in the air, "I'm getting baby cousins!" She grabbed her brother's hand, "We're gonna go play soccer, bye!"

The WWE Champion blinked, watching as the blur of grey and pink ran off to play soccer. He rubbed a hand over his face, and stood up, looking back and forth between the child and her parents, "What the hell just happened?"

Scott patted him on the back, "Welcome to the family, bro."

* * *

><p>"You are so pretty!"<p>

"Michael, I want one of these."

Mike Mizanin glared pointedly at his girlfriend of three years, "Yes, whatever you say, Maryse."

Maryse beamed at him, her arms filled with Zoe's six year old niece, Bella. As soon as Maryse had arrived, Bella had forgotten about being smitten with Punk and attached herself to Maryse, or more importantly, Maryse's pet dog Flake. The young girl cradled the dog in her own arms while sitting in the arms of Maryse, her entire attention on the small puppy.

"Soo soo pretty!"

Maryse grinned at Mike, "Look she loves me already."

John Cena snorted, the top of his beer bottle resting against his lips, "She's talking to Flake, Maryse."

Maryse frowned, before turning her attention to Bella, "Sweetie, whose so pretty?"

Bella held up the dog, an exasperated look on the dark haired girls face, "The puppy, silly!"

The blonde former Diva's Champion raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow, before turning back to her boyfriend, "I do not want one of these anymore."

Mike rolled his eyes, throwing his playing cards down on the table. The men were all involved in a poker game, and it had been going on for a while. Dinner had been over, and everyone was filling up with dessert, whilst they sat on the large table in the yard, watching as the sun went down. The wives and girlfriends all sat at one end, talking and watching as the quite competitive poker game went on. John's brother Dan folded his cards, shaking his head, "I'm out, guys." He nodded his head over towards his cousin Zoe, across the table, "So Zo Bo, you going to let Rocky win at Wrestlemania?"

Zoe stalled as she took a sip of her beer, all eyes suddenly on her. She let out a nervous laugh, placing her bottle back in her lap, "You know that's not my decision, Danny."

Dan laughed, "Yeah, but you at least must know whose going to win by now?"

The dark haired girl shook her head, "In all honesty, I got no idea." In part it was true. She really did have no idea, but she knew that Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque were ultimately going to decide, and she was quite sure they were doing it without anyone else's opinion. She didn't blame them. She knew they were taking orders from Vince, because it was his baby, this match. He had everything going on this supposed match of a lifetime and he wasn't going to screw it up. Zoe took another sip of her beer, "When I find out Danny, I'll give you the heads up and you can put some money on that shit." She sent him a wink and her cousin laughed and shook his head.

Matt, John's other brother, rolled his eyes, "Please, as if they're going to let the golden boy lose."

Punk snorted, "That's just the kick. Which one is the real Golden boy? HEY!" He ducked as John threw a poker chip at him, "You are not getting that back."

John Cena shook his head, chuckling, "I don't think I even care anymore. Win or lose, the next day I'm going to be back at Raw. And the week after, and the week after that. Rock's just going to piss off again and do another movie. And when he needs promo work, he'll be back. Just like he always is."

"And he'll still mainevent over everyone else," chimed in John's brother Steve.

CM Punk chuckled, throwing a wink at John, "Boy doesn't that sound familiar - Do not throw anything else at me unless its worth $100 because I'm seriously losing."

John Cena ignored his friend, folding his cards before reaching over to grab his beer again and take a sip. As he did, the doorbell rang and Carol Cena seemed to move way too quickly for his liking. He raised an eyebrow at his father, "Who the hell is coming now?"

Zoe sat there, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to work out who was missing. And then her heart stopped and her stomach dropped. Her head whipped around to the door when she heard the voice. Her eyes widened at the sight of Liz Cena making her way into the backyard, an overnight bag in hand. Zoe turned back to look at her cousin, who was just as much in shock. Carol Cena moved forward, stepping in front of Liz, "Surprise Johnny!"

John recovered quickly, a smile growing on his face as he got up from his chair to hug his wife. As they hugged, Zoe caught the glances of the three other wrestlers at the table. They all knew what problems John had been having, but as Zoe took a glance around the table at the beaming smiles of his family watching the husband and wife pair reunited, she realised none of them knew. Her cousin hadn't said one word to anyone. He'd kept it a secret this whole time. And judging by the strained smile on his face, it was killing him inside.

* * *

><p><span>5th March, 2012<span>

"UNCLE PUNKKKKKKKK!"

"I didn't think anything could be louder than Mizanin," quipped Punk, dryly as he spied Bella Winters come speeding around a corner and barrelling straight towards him. The six year old leaped into his arms, and Punk chuckled, hugging the small girl tightly to him, "Hey Princess."

Zoe walked up to her boyfriend, her hand tightly clasped around her nephew's hand, who was on the prowl for Eve Torres, "And here I thought Princess was my name."

Punk paused, before throwing her a smirk and leaning forward to kiss her quickly, his hands covering Bella's eyes, "Hi Baby."

Zoe rolled her eyes, stepping away from her boyfriend, "They've just come to say a quick hello and then I'm going to take them out the front. Bella, please don't attach yourself to Punk's neck! You can't stay back here!" She laughed as the young girl poked her tongue out at her. Zoe spotted her cousin making his way over to them, and she grinned, pushing James in his direction. James darted for his uncle, leaping into the former WWE Champion's arms.

John grinned, spinning James in the air, "Hey little man, excited for Raw?" James nodded, his arms clutching John's broad shoulders so he wouldn't fall, "Is everyone here?"

James nodded, "Yep everyone is here. Mom and Dad, Uncle Dan, Uncle Steve, Uncle Matt, Uncle Sean, Aunt Liz.."

He continued his list of names, not realising John's face had dropped at the mention of his wife. Punk and Zoe seemed to noticed and Punk made to grab James, "Hey James, how about we go meet Eve?" James stopped what he was doing, his face brightening up with a wide smile as he jumped out of his Uncle's arms and he followed the WWE Champion and Bella towards the monitor bay area.

"Johnny?"

John glanced at his cousin, noticing the concerned look on her face, "I'm fine, Zo."

Zoe shook her head, her arm reaching up to pull John towards her. She wrapped herself against his side, "You can tell me, Johnny. I could see it on your face. Why haven't you told your parents?"

He shrugged, moving out of Zoe's embrace, "I want things to work out."

The Creative Writer raised an eyebrow, her arms folding over her chest, "You didn't even invite your own wife to Boston for the week you're here, and you want things to work out. Don't give me crap, John. Honestly, you can tell me. I'm not going to judge you if you want to divorce her." She watched as he inhaled sharply, "You're seriously considering aren't you?"

John ran a hand over his head, "I don't know what I want. I want my wife. I want a family. But for some reason, I can't have both." His voice dropped, "And I don't know which one to give up." He shook his head, taking a deep breath and exhaling, "There's just too much on my mind right now. Let me get through Wrestlemania and then I need to seriously think about it." The Boston native reached for his cousin, pulling her towards him in a hug, "Thank you, Zo."

Zoe nodded, hugging him tightly. She stepped back, and offered him a small smile, "You can talk to anyone of us, Johnny, you know that right?"

"I know that baby girl. I know," He glanced over at Punk, who was having a hard time pulling James off Eve Torre's leg, "You're a lucky girl." He noticed Zoe's confused look, "Trust me, you'll realise it soon enough."

Zoe watched him walk off towards Punk and Eve. He grabbed Bella, throwing her up in the air, and her giggles filled the backstage area. Zoe's heart broke all over again at her cousin's struggle for happiness. She knew he was going to make the right decision. She just wasn't sure exactly what it was.

* * *

><p>As Raw was currently on air, the backstage monitor bay was in hysterics and cheering Santino Marella on as he won the United States Championship. As he celebrated around the ring with Kofi Kingston, Aksana, and Theodore Long, Zoe watched amused, shaking her head at the antics of the new Champion. Beth Phoenix appeared beside her, her eyebrows raised, "That was once my on screen boyfriend."<p>

Zoe clucked her tongue at Beth's dry tone, "You have such good taste in men."

Beth glanced over her shoulder where CM Punk had Miz in a headlock, spinning around in a circle, "I do. And clearly you haven't learnt from my mistakes. Hold on.. PHIL SERIOUSLY PUT HIM DOWN!" She turned back to Zoe, a smile on her face, "So, how's my Wrestlemania moment coming along?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Am I wrestling Snooki?"

Zoe shook her head, "Nope."

"J-Woww?" Zoe shook her head again, "Sammy?"

"Would you relax with the Jersey Shore?!"

Beth shrugged, "Trashy reality tv stars. That's all I can think of."

"She's not trashy. She's beaten you before."

Beth looked heavenward, "Menounos." She groaned, "For the love of God, are you serious? I'm going to lose aren't I? Whose her partner?"

"Kelly Kelly." The Diva's Champion's face brighten up, immediately, and Zoe looked at her friend, uneasily, "I don't like it when you do that. You look evil. What are you planning? Beth?"

The older woman patted her shoulder, reassuringly, "I have to go find Torres." As the blonde disappeared from view, Zoe shook her head, laughing at the strange woman. As Raw went to a break, she turned to go back to Stephanie's office, when she spotted Dwayne Johnson standing not too far behind her. The other superstars had noticed, but after what happened the other week, many were ignoring him. Choosing to do the same, Zoe made to move past him, but she caught what he said, and she knew he wanted her to hear it.

"Do you respect any of these titles? Or are you just handing them out to any shmuck?"

Zoe paused. She spun on her heel, and faced the older man, a smirk on her face, "Good thing, I'm not giving you the title."

The Rock snorted, "Hysterical. You should really be showing me some respect, Zoe."

"That's Miss Winters to you." A small group of wrestlers had once again gathered around the two, and Zoe noticed Paul Levesque standing nearby, watching the events unfold. "And I learnt that respect should be earnt, not demanded."

"Do you know who I am? I've earnt all the respect I can get."

Zoe smirked even more, "And you lost it all when you insinuated I was sleeping with a majority of the Raw roster. I just have to put up with you for the next month, and then you can fuck off for all I care. You don't deserve any of my respect." She turned on her heel, throwing a nod towards Paul, who followed her down the corridor, leaving Dwayne standing there, a look of fury on his face.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Winters."

The dark haired girl sent a look of surprise towards her employer, who had caught up with her, "My apologies for the language."

Paul shrugged, "What do I care? The guy got what he deserved." He paused as they stopped outside Stephanie's office, "I don't want to have to tell you this. But as far as the booking decision for John and Dwayne's match goes, we can't take your vote on it." Zoe furrowed her eyebrows and he continued, "You're a blood relative. It's a conflict of interest according to the Board."

"Have you met your wife?"

The former Champion let out a small chuckle, "It's not just that. Normally, they wouldn't care. But Rock got in their ear, and they heard about the showdown last week. It's the Board's decision, not mine."

"What about Punk?"

"I can't have my best writer out of every storyline now, can I?" He smiled, "I smoothed it over with the Board. They think Dwayne's crazy and you're not going out with Punk.. For now. So please try to keep your hands off each other if you see a member of the Board, " He remarked dryly, sending her an amused look.

Zoe smiled, appreciatively, "Thanks, Paul."

Paul nodded, "Now go help the nervous breakdown that is my wife, while I go look for my best friend. Shawn is probably wrecking havoc backstage as we speak."

* * *

><p><span>12th March, 2012<span>

"Alright, so we have James Roday. We have Jericho cutting a promo on Punk. We have the Rock concert. We have the John Cena rap. We have HBK and Undertaker. And somehow I'm supposed to fit all of this IN BETWEEN MATCHES!?"

Zoe Winters hid her face behind the file in her hand, her teeth biting hard on her lip to stop from bursting into laughter at the look of distress on Stephanie McMahon's face. It had been a week since the Raw in Boston, and that show had run smoothly, and now one week later, the show had been over booked and Stephanie was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She buried her head in her arms, and Zoe reached over to pat her arm gently, laughter slowly bubbling out of her, "I'm sorry, Steph, but we can make it work, don't worry."

"Too late, I'm worried." Stephanie caught sight of another piece of paper on her desk, "Oh my god, and we have to worry about that Long and Laurinaitis match. Christ. I need a holiday."

"After Wrestlemania you can have one."

Stephanie threw her hands over her face, "No I can't. It never ends!"

A knock at the door interrupted the two and Zoe coudn't have been more grateful. She shrieked at the door, "Come in! PLEASE!" Her face lit up at the sight of her boyfriend, CM Punk, and his current storyline partner, Chris Jericho. "Hey boys, what's up?"

Chris raised an eyebrow at the desk covered in a mess of papers and the distressed look on Stephanie's face, "Um.. our meeting?"

Stephanie's eyes widened, and she shuffled some papers around, "Sorry boys, I totally forgot. Here take a seat, and I'll just grab your file."

Zoe chuckled at the disorganised bundle of papers that were teetering precariously on the edge of Steph's desk, "You need an assistant."

"You ARE my assistant."

The dark haired girl grinned, and she grabbed a copy of the outline for their promo and handed it to Punk and Chris, "So guys, pretty much, Punk will have his match with Miz. After the match, as he is celebrating, we will cut to Jericho on the titantron and you'll deliver a promo on Punk. Now, we want to make this personal.. We were thinking maybe target that before his June promo, he was getting lost in the midcard and only after he whined about it, did he get his title shot, whilst you actually worked for yours."

"You are the worst girlfriend in the world."

Zoe snorted at her boyfriend, "Oh you know I don't mean it, dumbass."

Chris smirked at the bickering pair, "I can work with that. How long have I got?"

"About five minutes," answered Stephanie, "The show is way too packed tonight. Next week and the week after, we will definitely make it longer for you guys to establish the feud better, but we accidently overbooked tonight. But I know you guys don't need a lot of time to cut a great promo. So go over it together. Work something out and just give it to Zoe or me so we have a copy before tonight." She paused, "Ok understood?" At their nods, she smiled, seemingly looking a little less frazzled than before. She nodded, "Good, now send the next one in." Her eyes noticed the wry smiles on the two men's faces and she raised an eyebrow, "What?"

The two men stood up and CM Punk grinned, "You are going to die." He pushed open the door, and called out to the person outside, "Yo, John boy, they want to see you now." He snorted with laughter again as John came into the room, and Stephanie and Zoes' jaws dropped. Standing before them, clad in his old Doctor of Thuganomics outfit, was John Cena.

"Yo."

And that's when Stephanie McMahon lost it.

* * *

><p>"Congratulations, Punk. Congratulations on your big win!" Jericho appeared on the Titantron, and Punk noticed him, pausing in the middle of his in ring celebration to start their promo together, "You need to enjoy them while you can, Punk. You see, you can smirk if you want to, but I can see straight through you. When I look at you, I see a fraud. And I'm not talking about the fact that you call yourself the Best in The World. I'm talking about you as a person. Because I did a little research this week, and I found something. A little deep, dirty, dark secret about you. You've been straight-edge ever since you came to the WWE, but you've never explained the reasons why."<p>

Backstage, John Cena's face dropped, and he glanced, panicked at Zoe Winters and Stephanie McMahon, "What did you guys do?!"

Stephanie shook her head, "Oh my god."

Zoe looked between the two, "This isn't his promo, but what the hell is going on? Why do you two look so sick?!"

Back on the Titantron, Jerciho continued his promo, "I want to tell all of these wannabes why you're straight-edge. I want to tell them that you're straight-edge because your father is an alcoholic."

Boos and protests filled the arena, and backstage, the Raw roster watched as Punk's face dropped at the information that had now been broadcasted over the world. Zoe cast a glance at her cousin, her eyes filled with tears, "John?"

John Cena shook his head, running a hand over his face, "Oh my god. This is wrong. Where the hell is Jericho? Stop this promo, Stephanie!" As he was saying it, Stephanie was already on her phone, trying to find out where in the building Chris Jericho was and why was he changing the promo.

Zoe clutched the paper in her hand. The one with the original promo that Jericho and Punk had come up with, "Who authorised that?"

Her face was white as a ghost. Stephanie McMahon did not look much better as the two watched in anguish as the promo came to an end and CM Punk made his way slowly up the ramp, his WWE Championship held low against him. Her dark eyes cast a glance at Stephanie, "How did you not know?"

Stephanie shook her head, her fingers pressed against her temple, "I trusted him to do what was right. He told me he would take care of it. I didn't think he'd do the same as what Punk did that day."

"Guess we've both made the same mistakes."

"You don't attack a man's family like that. The whole WWE knows that Punk's life prior to the WWE is taboo. We don't speak about it. We don't ask him about it." She sighed, redialling a number on her phone to call Paul, "I can't believe him. After all we went through to get him here.. I've got to find Paul. Something has to be done." She pressed the phone to her ear, pausing as she caught sight of the distraught looking WWE Champion making his way through the curtains. "Go, Zoe. I'll handle it from here."

Zoe darted after the WWE Champion, who was ignoring everyone. People were trying to reach out to him to console him. Mike placed a hand on his arm, stopping the older man. Punk turned to look at everyone gathered in the monitor bay. "I don't need anyone's sympathy." He croaked, his voice shaking, "Save it for Chris." He slipped his arm out of Mike's hold and turned back to make his way to his locker room.

Mike grabbed Zoe's arm, stopping her, "Zo', what the hell was that?"

Her hands shook as she straightened out her top, "That was.. That was Chris's version of a pipebomb." She pulled out of Mike's grip, "Please, let me go see him." Mike nodded and Zoe made her way down the hallway, intent on finding Punk. Her heels clicked against the cold concrete floor, and she turned a corner, spotting Punk enter a dressing room further down the hall. She slowed her pace, stopping in front of the door. With a sigh, she pushed it open, not even bothering to knock. The sight before her broke her heart. The tough Straight-Edge Champion was curled up against a locker, his knees against his chest, and his face pressed into his knees.

"I said I don't want sympathy."

Zoe closed the door behind her. She stepped forward, squatting down in front of the Champion. Her small hand ran through his hair, before she placed both of her hands on his folded arms, "Punk."

"Did you know he was going to do that?"

"No. Stephanie is already onto finding out why he did it." She pushed her hand through his hair again, soothingly, "C'mon, have a shower and we will go home." Zoe pulled against his arms, trying to lift him to his feet. Eventually, he lifted, and moved slowly to the bathroom. Moments after he disappeared into the bathroom, the door burst open and John Cena came flying through the door, his face full of anger. "What the? John!"

John clenched his jaw, "I'm going to rip Chris to pieces. He knows. We all know!" He kicked the door, "What the hell is his problem?"

Zoe placed a hand, gently on his arm, "I don't know. But please, just leave it."

"I'm going to kill him."

Zoe glared, "Not if I get to that pathetic piece of crap first." She lowered her voice, listening out to hear the shower going, "You all knew about Punk's dad didn't you?" John nodded, and she sighed, "Why didn't he tell me?"

The former WWE Champion scratched his head, "I'm not proud of the way we found out. We were all out one night and Randy was getting hammered. Back when he was a pain in the ass. That night, he was so bad and he was out in the parking lot and he was screaming at us. I don't even remember why, and Punk just lost it." He sighed sadly at the memory, "Punk saw his dad go through the same thing, and he didn't want to see someone else go through it. When we asked him about it, he explained everything to us. That's how we all know." He ran a hand over his face, "I guess he was waiting for the right time to tell you. He tries to forget about that part of his life sometimes, but now it's all come back to reality for him." He heard the shower turn off and he leaned forward to kiss his cousin on the cheek, "Take him home, and call me tomorrow morning, ok? Love you."

"Love you too." She watched her cousin disappear before noticing the broken man that was her boyfriend enter the room. Her heart broke again at the sight of him, and she grabbed his bag, "C'mon, Punk, let's go."

* * *

><p>The ride back to the hotel was silent. Zoe kept glancing at Punk from the corner of her eye. His head was pressed against her window and he hadn't said a word. He was staring out in front of him, and Zoe chewed her lip, worried about him. Even as they rode the elevator, he didn't say anything. They were staying on the same floor, and she followed him down to his room first to make sure he was ok. He fumbled with his card key, and Zoe stepped forward, plucking it quickly from his hands. She smiled softly at him, swiping the key to let him into his room. She handed it back to him, watching as he pushed the door open to make his way inside. "Call me if you need anything, ok?"<p>

"I'm not a charity case."

The snap made her close her eyes tightly to keep the tears at bay. She was exhausted from the show. She didn't need this. She was just trying to help him. Her eyes reopened, to find him staring at the floor, while he leaned against his doorframe, "I know, but I'm.. just.." Zoe stopped, waving a hand, "Forget it. Goodnight."

Half an hour later, Zoe had showered, and changed into shorts and a tshirt. She thanked God she had a late flight out the next day, and could sleep in. She toweldried her hair, flicking through the television channels with one hand, intent on finding something to put her to sleep. A knock at the door made her pause. Tossing the towel on a chair, she made her way to the door, swinging it open.

"Hi."

Zoe leant against her doorframe, "Hey."

Punk sighed, scratching his head, "Can we not talk about it, please?"

Zoe chewed her lip, tilting her head to the side, "Punk.."

"Not right now. Please, I promise I'll go all Dr Phil and blurt out everything. But not now. I just want to go to sleep."

Zoe noticed his white tshirt, his grey trackpants and his bare feet. Her lips quirked, "Where do you plan on doing that?" At his small smile, she reached a hand forward to tug his own hand, "C'mon, Punk." He followed her inside, and watched as she got in under the covers. She patted the spot next to her, and Punk climbed in after her. He reached out an arm, pulling her back against his chest. Zoe snuggled into the superstar, feeling his warmth. But it was moments later, that Zoe felt the warm tears pressed against her neck. Chewing her lip, she turned in Punk's arms, her hands wiping the tears from his face. In the dark, he pressed his lips to hers, blindly, and Zoe kissed him back.

He pulled away from her, and buried his face back in her neck, "I'm not like him."

"I know, baby, I know."

"I love you."

Zoe bit back the tears at the choked out words in between his quiet sobs, "I love you too, Punk."

Tomorrow, if John had left Jericho alive for her, she was going to tear him a new one.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you guys thought! :)


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: The response to the last chapter was amazing! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it and so I decided on another quick update, and not to leave you guys hanging for two months again! :)

* * *

><p><span>13th March, 2012<span>

CM Punk prided himself on being the best wrestler in the world. He prided himself on being a tough guy. A guy that didn't care what people said about him. His background of working his way through the Indies and then the WWE ladder made him immune to the constant jabs and jibes by others. He'd been called all sorts of names. He'd been called out on his physique, on his look and on his character. He'd been called out even on his decision to live a straight-edge lifestyle. But even then, none of that broke him down. Instead, it made him the man he was now. However, everyone had their limits. And so did CM Punk. The man known behind the scenes as Phil Brooks held a secret close to him, and while his coworkers knew about it, he knew that none of them would use it against him. Tonight was an exception. Chris Jericho had reopened the wounds of his past. Of his childhood with a father that drank the day and night away. The promo Chris Jericho had delivered was perfect in getting the emotion out of Punk, and Punk couldn't disagree with that. But hearing those words about his father echo through the arena had broken Punk inside, and he knew the fans could see it on his face. He wanted so badly to know why Chris did it. Why did he think it was necessary to do it. He could've picked anything else about him. But not that, anything but that.

As he watched the sun rise and peek through the curtains of Zoe Winter's room, CM Punk let out a small sigh and untangled himself from around his girlfriend. He leaned forward, brushing a kiss gently on the side of her head, before slipping out of bed. He made his way towards the sliding doors that led out onto the balcony, picking up his phone on the way to check the messages. There were over twenty messages from his family, his best friend Colt Cabana, John Cena, Randy, Kofi, Miz, Maryse, The Bellas, and even Stephanie McMahon just to name a few. He sighed, quickly typing replies to his family and Colt that he would call them later, and then he sent a generic one out to the others, telling them he was fine. His phone buzzed again, and he glanced at the caller id, pressing the answer button, "It's 6am, since when are you ever up at 6am?"

John Cena's deep chuckle echoed through the phone, "Since I know my best friend is never asleep, so I took a stab at calling you to see if you're alright."

"Did you just call me your best friend?"

"Shut up," snapped John, "You alright, man?"

Punk sighed, running a hand over his face, "I've been better."

John exhaled heavily, "Man, when I get my hands on that piece of shit-"

"I got dibs on him first."

John chuckled, "I'll hold him back for you. Listen Punk, you have to know that none of us knew that was going to happen. Zoe and Steph were horrified, and Steph was beating herself up pretty badly. She was almost in tears when I saw her with Paul last night." He paused, "They couldn't find Jericho. Seems he left straight after the promo. He didn't check into the hotel either. They think he went straight home."

Punk laughed bitterly, "Couldn't deal with the fall out. Son of a bitch."

"I hope you know we all got your back, Punk."

"I know, John. Thanks."

"Have you spoken to your mom?" asked John.

"I'll call her later. God, she's going to be.. Jesus." He ran a hand over his face, "I think I'm going to have to go home for a few days..."

The former WWE Champion sighed again, "Do what you need to do, Punk. Just let us know if you need anything."

Punk let a small smile curl his lips, "Thanks man. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Damn straight. How the hell do you wake up at 6am all the time? I'm ready to pass out!"

Punk chuckled, "Just go get your beauty sleep, dumbass." He hung up the phone, interrupting John's protest at the name. He pocketed his phone, and turned around to go back inside before he spotted Zoe standing behind him. He smiled at her, "Did I wake you?"

Zoe shook her head, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his middle. She smiled against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her tightly to him. She felt him kiss the side of her head, and she returned a kiss to his chest, "You alright?"

"How many people are going to ask me that today?"

Zoe tilted her head back to look at his face, "Everyone that loves you." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his lips, "Now, are you alright?"

"Ill be better after I kill Jericho."

A dark look crossed Zoe's face, and she all but scowled at the thought of the blonde Canadian, "Not if I get my hands on him first."

The WWE Champion smirked at the look on his girlfriend's face, and he leaned forward again to kiss her, "Now that, I would like to see."

Zoe smiled, moving to grab his hand and pull him inside, "C'mon, I'm cold." Punk returned her smile, and followed her inside. Zoe pulled him to sit on the edge of the bed with her, and her smile slightly faltered, "I know you say you're alright, Punk, but if you need to talk, you know I'm here for you right?"

Punk turned his gaze to the floor, his teeth pulling in his lower lip to chew on. With a sigh, he turned back to Zoe, his eyes still not looking straight at her, "Not right now, Zo'. Just give me a bit and I'll tell you everything." He watched as Zoe opened her mouth to protest, and he cut her off, "Please, Zo'. Just give me a bit of time and I'll tell you, I promise."

The dark haired girl frowned, "That's what you said last night."

"And I'll still tell you, but not right now, Zo'!" He moved his hand from her grip, running both of his tattooed hands through his hair, "It's still fresh in my mind. I just want to concentrate on this thing with Jericho. I want to know why he did it. Why he had to tell the whole freaking world about my dad!"

Zoe reached forward, her hand resting on his shoulder, "Punk.."

CM Punk stood up, abruptly, his face twisted with anger, "Don't. Please." Last night he was upset, but all that had faded away just thinking about what Jericho had done, and now he was fuming with anger. It was his secret. Sure, a few guys backstage knew, but that was to help Randy. He realised his error upon blurting it out, but he didn't want to see his friend go down the same path as he'd watched his father go down. The WWE Champion ran a hand over his tired face, and he glanced at his girlfriend, "I'm sorry, Zoe. But I can't right now. I have to go."

He headed for the door of her hotel room, before he heard her quiet voice, "I don't have anything to hide from you."

His body froze, and he turned slowly to face his girlfriend. She looked so small, sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes shining with tears. He shook his head, "I'm not hiding anything."

"Yes you are."

His hazel eyes stared at her, intently, "I promise I will tell you in good time, Zoe. But right now, I can't do it. I'm not.. not ready to tell you."

Zoe clenched her jaw, rising from the bed to glare at her boyfriend. The whole WWE roster pretty much knew his story, and as his girlfriend, she looked like the idiot backstage that had no idea what really went on in Punk's life, "What's so different about me to the boys backstage?"

"I'm not doing this right now."

"I love you. I hate seeing you upset and I just want to understand what's-"

"No! You will never understand!"

The roar startled Zoe, and she took a step back, her eyes wide at her seething boyfriend standing before her. She shook her head, "Yes, I will-"

Punk laughed, bitterly, "No, you never will. You all say you understand, but you don't! I just spent the week with your family and saw a life that I could only dream about. Your family was altogether. No one was screaming. No one was smoking a pack of cigarettes while their kids went hungry or were cold because they didn't have proper coats. No one was wearing 5 year old hand-me-downs because their dad spent most of his paychecks on cases of beer. You have no idea what it was like and you will never understand. And I would see it on your face."

"Do you really think that little of me? That I would judge you?!"

"You'd look at me with pity." Punk shook his head, when Zoe tried to cut in, and his voice softened, "Don't deny it, you would. I've seen that look since I was a kid. It's the same look my mother gives me when she sees me. I know she's thinking 'I wish I could've helped them'. I want you to know me as the guy I am now. That's who I want to be. Don't look at me as the boy who hid in a closet when his dad got drunk." He took a deep breath, and shook his head again, "I love you, Zoe. But please, just give me some space, alright?"

As he turned to leave the room, Zoe's eyes filled with tears. Once the door had closed with a click, she sat down on the bed, her hand covering her mouth to muffle the sobs. Thinking quickly, she grabbed her room key and her phone and ran out of the hotel room, and in search of her cousin's hotel room. John Cena's room was only down the hall, and she rapped her knuckles insistently against the door, her face still wet from the tears. John swung the door open, his tired eyes squinting at the bright hallway lights, "Zo'?"

His cousin bit back a sob, "Can I stay here for a bit?"

John frowned, pulling her into his room. He draped an arm over her shoulder, drawing her close to his body, "What happened?" He guided her to his bed, and they sat down on the edge, her head nestled against his chest, "Zo?"

"He wouldn't talk to me. He said he needed space."

Her voice was muffled against his broad chest, but John Cena heard every word, and he sighed quietly. His cousin was clearly heartbroken at the idea that her boyfriend didn't want to talk to her about what had happened. He tugged her closer, "Zoe, I know you want to know what is going on with him, but trust me, maybe it's best that you give him the space. He's going to talk to you, baby girl, just not right now."

Zoe lifted her head from his chest, "I just want to help-"

John shook his head, "I know you do, Zoe. I know you try to help everyone and fix everything, but sometimes there are things that are out of your control, like Punk-"

"And like you?"

The former WWE Champion sighed, rubbing his free hand over his face, "Like me, Zoe." He glanced heavenward for a moment, before turning his direction back to his cousin curled up by his side, "Sometimes, people want to bottle things up, and when the time is right, they'll tell you. Trust me on this, baby girl, Punk will come around. He's still upset and I know he never meant to snap at you, ok?" Zoe nodded, and he tried to smile at her, "Now, I want to see my favourite girl happy, so you just stay here and we will watch bad morning television and have breakfast together, alright?" He smiled as Zoe shuffled back on the bed, resting against the headboard. John joined her, leaning back against the board, his hand reaching for the remote, while Zoe rested her head against his shoulder.

"Promise you won't go all angry-Cena when you see him?"

The Boston native burst into laughter, his laugh echoing through the hotel room, "I promise, Zoe. I'll let him go this time."

* * *

><p><span>17th March, 2012<span>

Zoe Winters carefully avoided her boyfriend after their argument, and gave him the space he wanted. She had managed to check out of her hotel room without seeing him in the lobby and had departed for Montreal, where the next house show was, in her cousin's bus. CM Punk had also been given his own bus this week, so Zoe assumed they would eventually see each other during a stop over, or whenever they got to Montreal. She was fully aware that her cousin had now dubbed them the most stubborn couple in the world when neither of them had messaged or called each other in regards to each other's whereabouts or even to say they were sorry for snapping at the other. Zoe had only shrugged when Mike questioned her about it during a rest stop in Connecticutt. She wasn't sure where she stood with Punk at the moment, and had no idea what she would say to the WWE Champion when she finally did see him in Montreal. The house shows leading up to the biggest event of the wrestling calender were just as important as the Raw shows, as they needed to also help build the feuds between the talent, but also it was important that no one was to get injured during the event, and Zoe wanted to keep her mind free from distractions and focus on her job. The young writer tried to keep a low profile backstage, hoping not to run into her boyfriend just yet. As she made her way down the corridor, a small voice startled her out of her train of thoughts.

"Hi, it's Zoe right?"

Zoe stopped and glanced at the young Diva, who was standing by her side, "Yes it is. What can I help you with?"

The Diva known to the WWE Universe as AJ smiled at her, "How are you?" At the raised eyebrow Zoe shot her, April wrung her hands nervously together, "I mean, I've noticed that you haven't been with Punk in the past few days and you looked a bit upset so I was just wondering how you were."

A smile curled the corners of Zoe's lips, and she visibly relaxed at the girl before her, "I'm fine, thank you April."

April grinned at her, bouncing on her feet, "Great. Look, I know we've never spoken before but I've heard through Punk and the other guys that you are a huge Marvel fan and I was just wondering, if you ever want a break from work or something we could hang out or something?" She paused, realisation of what she'd said dawning over her face, "I just asked you out, didn't I?"

Zoe let out a loud laugh, the sound echoing through the corridor of the arena, "I got what you meant, April, but I would loved to, sometime." She smiled at AJ, "Oh by the way, we're going to need to talk to you about Wrestlemania. I've got something special planned." AJ's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to ask, but Zoe held up a hand, chuckling, "No, no, don't try and ask. I'll call you and Stephanie and I will have a meeting with you, Daniel and Stephen. You'll like it, don't worry." She nodded her head, "Anyway, thank you for that, April. Honestly, I needed that."

AJ shrugged, "It's no trouble. I just thought you might need to talk to someone."

"I did," said Zoe, "And thank you, I'll let you know soon when I'm free and maybe we can have an XMen marathon?"

"Minus the Last Stand?"

Zoe nodded, "Of course! Or we could sit there and point out its flaws."

AJ grinned, "Sounds perfect. I'll see you around?"

"Yep, sure thing." Zoe waved as the young Diva disappeared down the corridor, and Zoe shook her head, smiling. She was glad that AJ had seeked her out to talk to her. They were two of the youngest girls backstage, and it was nice to have another nerd around. Readjusting her bag on her shoulder, she headed down the corridor to find Stephanie McMahon,s o they could go over the night's booking sheet and work on the developing feuds and storylines for Wrestlemania. As she headed down the corridor, she spotted CM Punk talking to Mike and Nick Nemeth. His eyes caught hers and she shied her gaze away, ducking her head and she continued on down the corridor, her mood dampening almost immediately. As stubborn as the two of them were, she missed him terribly and wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know how. As the dark haired Creative writer stepped through the door of the makeshift office of her employer, Stephanie McMahon immediately knew something was up.

"Well you look fantastic."

Zoe didn't miss the dry tone in her boss' voice, and she pursed her lips, "Boy troubles."

Stephanie sighed, patting the seat next to her at the large table in the room, "Sit, sweetheart, I have a lovely tonne of paperwork that will make you feel better." Zoe suppressed a snort before sitting next to Stephanie, her eyes glancing over the large amount of paper that covered the desk, "How are you? How's Punk?"

Shuffling a small pile of scripts in her hands, Zoe shrugged, "I'm fine. Punk just wants some space, and here I am giving it to him."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow, "How much space?"

"Five days."

A snort resounded in the small office, "Wow."

Zoe ran a hand through her hair, her face tired from the lack of sleep worrying about Punk over the past few days, "I don't want him to bottle this up."

Stephanie McMahon felt for the young girl, and reached out to rest her hand on her arm, "It will be alright, Zoe, trust me." She paused, eyeing the pile of run through sheets for the house show, a smirk curling her lips, "Now, let's go hand these out and find that little rat known as Chris Irvine." She chuckled at the look of glee on Zoe's face, "I knew that would cheer you up. I'll let you have first dibs on him."

* * *

><p>The backstage area of the house show was filled with most of the Superstars and Divas required for the night's show, and even some who weren't apart of it. Zoe smiled as she spotted Beth and Natalya run through a few spots with Eve and Tamina, in anticipation of their tag team match later that night. Her eyes continued on the lookout for one blonde Canadian, and she knew he was spotted when silence descended upon the group of wrestlers as he emerged from the locker room area. From the corner of her eye, she noticed CM Punk tense up at the sight of the wrestler, and Zoe knew her and Stephanie needed to step in fast before the talent tore him to pieces. It was as if she spoke too soon, when she saw Stephanie make a bee line for her old friend, "What the hell was that stunt on Monday night?"<p>

Chris Jericho smirked at the dark haired woman, "Hello to you too, Stephanie."

"Answer my question, Christopher."

The hiss from the head of Creative Writing only made Chris raise an amused eyebrow, "And here I thought the WWE appreciated shoots."

"That was not a shoot!" yelled Paul Levesque as he appeared next to Stephanie, "You had no right to do what you did. Especially with something as sensitive as Punk's family. You had no right at all."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Stephanie only growled at the smirk that was still plastered on the face of the Canadian, "Why did you do it, Chris?"

"Because CM Punk is getting boring."

"Excuse me?"

The snarl caused everyone's heads to turn as CM Punk stepped forward, his eyes glaring pointedly at the older man. He stood only a few feet away from Chris, his WWE Championship belt tied around his waist. He continued to glare, watching as Chris' smirk only curled his lips more.

"You heard me," answered Chris, stepping closer to Punk, "You are boring. You have the Creative team in the palm of your hand and even then, you still are a worthless Champion. You're not exciting. You're just as stale as Cena."

Punk's lips curled into a smirk that rivalled Chris's, "Really? Coming from the man whose return barely caused a blip on anyone's radar, that's a bit rich."

Chris glared at the WWE Champion, "I didn't come back to be put into a second grade feud. You may have the title Punk but you mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things."

The Chicago native pointed at the belt tightly clasped around his waist, "This doesn't mean nothing. This means I'm the best in the world."

"No, it means they just gave it to you to shut you up." Chris smirked at the dark glare that CM Punk sent towards him, "How does it feel that despite the fact you hold the most coveted prize in the WWE, it means absolutely nothing? You're not maineventing Wrestlemania. Hell, you're not even the second main event. I'm going to make this one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches ever, and this will be one of the greatest feuds, and if you really believed your words that night in June, then you sure as hell will be a part of it."

Punk stared at the man in front of him, his jaw clenched as he thought over the words from the older former Champion, "You took it too far."

"Sometimes you have to bring the truth in to make it more real."

"That's my family!" roared CM Punk, stepping closer to Chris. "If you had the balls to tell me what you were planning, I would've been all ears. But don't you ever, and I mean EVER, bring my family into this again. You'll get your greatest ever feud, but not at their expense."

It unnerved Punk that the smirk from Chris Jericho's face had yet to move. The Fozzy lead singer continued to smirk, folding his arms over his chest, "It's too late for that."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Chris clicked his tongue, "Don't you read the dirt sheets by your precious Internet Wrestling Community? They're already hyping up the feud and hypothesizing what dirty secret I'm going to unveil next."

Before CM Punk had a chance to lunge at him, John Cena and Mike Mizanin stepped forward to grab the WWE Champion by the arms, pulling him back. John glared pointedly at Chris, "Don't you even think about it! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oh trust me, I'll find something-"

"No you fucking won't." Zoe Winters had had enough of watching the two of them go at each other and stepped between them, a scowl on her face. "Remember that creative control you asked for? Consider it gone! There is no chance in hell you are getting your hands on this feud. You will be doing everything we give you, and you will not reveal anything else about the Brooks family." She narrowed her dark eyes at the blond Canadian, "Do you understand? Or would you like me to uncover what goes on on your Fozzy tours?" At Chris' wide eyed look, Zoe smirked, "That settles it. You're on a warning. Pull another stunt like this again and I'm sure we'll find a nice spot for you in the unemployment line."

Chris's jaw dropped at the sheer audacity of Zoe to speak to him like that, and threaten him in such a way. He shot an incredulous look at Stephanie McMahon, who was looking amused her at her assistant's outburst. He pointed at Zoe, "She has no right to threaten me like that-"

"Oh yes she does," shot Stephanie, an amused smirk gracing her lips, "She's a lot meaner than I am, and likes you a whole let less." Flicking her hair to the side, she smiled cynically at Chris, "Think about what you're willing to risk, Chris." She paused, glancing at the assembled group of talent, "Anyway, people! We have a show to put on! Can we please get ready to go?" She turned on her heel and watched as Chris darted past her to disappear down the corridor, "Well that was fun."

"Miss Winters, how do you know about the Fozzy tour?"

Zoe pursed her lips, a coy smile on her face as she faced Stephanie's husband, Paul Levesque, "I was only fishing. It worked, didn't it?"

Paul let out a chuckle, shaking his head, "You really are a whole lot meaner than Stephanie, and that's saying something.. I didn't mean it like that Steph!" He waved at Zoe, darting after his wife who was making her way back to the office, ignoring her husband.

Zoe rolled her eyes at the bickering couple, before throwing a quick wave to her cousin and made her way down the hallway to Stephanie's makeshift office again. She was barely halfway down the corridor, when she heard footsteps gaining after her. A voice she instantly recognised called out to her, "Even though I was such an asshole to you the other day, you still stick up for me?"

"Just the other day?"

Punk let out a small embarrassed chuckle as his girlfriend turned around to face him. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, glancing sheepishly at her, "I'm sorry, baby. I just.. God, I don't have an excuse." He stepped closer to her, "I miss my roadwife."

Zoe shook her head, a small giggle escaping her lips, "I miss you too. But you can't shut me out, Punk. I'm not Chris. I wasn't ever going to use it against you or judge you. I just wanted to help you."

"I know, baby, I'm sorry. I promise, tonight, you can be my shrink."

The dark haired girl laughed, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his neck, "I love you."

"I know."

"You're a jerk."

"I know that too." Zoe rolled her eyes, before leaning forward to kiss him soundly on the lips.

A snort interrupted them, "Why did we follow them? I actually feel nauseous."

John Cena spluttered for words, staring at his friend Mike, "You feel nauseous? THAT'S MY COUSIN!"

* * *

><p><span>18th March, 2012<span>

"So, how's Adam?"

"He's fine."

"Are you bringing him to the Hall of Fame?"

"You idiot, he's being inducted. Of course he's going to be there."

"How cute."

Beth Phoenix shot a look at Mike Mizanin, who was currently interrogating her about her new boyfriend, "Michael, you were only supposed to drop Maryse off tonight. How have you managed to stay in this hotel room and crash girls night?"

The Cleveland native grinned at her before shoving another chip in his mouth, "Waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up." He paused, thinking over his words and then he corrected himself, "Scratch that, boyfriends."

Zoe laughed, "Speaking of your boyfriends, where are they?"

Mike glared at the door, expectantly, "They better not have stood me up."

Maryse rolled her eyes, her attention drawn to the various DVDs that were thrown across Eve Torres' hotel bed, "You're still not staying here, Michael." A few of the Divas, including Beth, Eve, AJ, Maryse and the still to arrive Bellas, and Zoe had decided to have a girls night, the night before Raw. A knock at the door interrupted the group in Eve's room, and Mike bounced towards the door, earning himself another eyeroll from his exasperated girlfriend.

"You're late!"

A snort resounded through the room as CM Punk made his way into the room, followed by John Cena, Nick Nemeth and the two Bella twins, "And here I thought Maryse was the high maintenance one." He smirked as Maryse stuck up her perfectly manicured middle finger at him, "Lovely to see you too, Maurice."

Eve moved towards the group of men, shooing them out of her hotel room, "Go! We have gossiping and bitching to do, so leave!"

Punk smirked, darting around Eve to grab Zoe by the waist and kiss her quickly. He tapped her on the ass as he made his way to the door with the other guys, "Bye, woman!" He flinched as John smacked him upside the head, and he rolled his eyes, "Would you have preferred bye hotstuff?"

John looked heavenward, "Why?" He shook his head, waving at his cousin and the girls before they left the room, leaving the girls to their girls night.

As the door clicked closed, Maryse moved to put a movie on, while the other girls made themselves comfortable either on Eve's bed or one of the couches in her room. The opening credits for the movie played, before Eve paused it as the twins and Zoe already started talking rahter than watching the movie. Brie passed the bowl of chips to her sister, "So, Zoe, how is Wrestlemania planning going?"

Zoe smiled tiredly at her friends. They all knew how late she had been working doing rewrites and having meetings with other members of the backstage team over the past week, and she wasn't slowing down anytime soon, "It's very busy, but hopefully you'll all be playing a part in the show. I'm trying to make that my mission."

Maryse wrapped an arm around Zoe, "I'm slightly jealous this is all happening after I've been released, but I'm glad it is happening for the other girls. They all deserve it."

Beth nodded, "Honestly, I'm even surprised we are getting time at Wrestlemania. Lately, you've been struggling to get us even onto the show, and now somehow all of us will be a part of Wrestlemania? I don't know how you do it, Zoe."

The young writer shrugged, "I've been so focused on the guys, that I've felt bad for neglecting you girls. I know that the plan was to focus on one thing at a time, but the boys seem to be doing alright now, so I want you girls to have your chance."

Eve took a sip from her drink, "So Beth and I are wrestling, what are the other girls doing?"

"Nikki and Brie will be part of the Laurinaitis and Teddy Long match, and AJ will play a big role in Daniel's match," Zoe smiled teasingly at AJ, "You just have no idea how though."

AJ pouted, "I don't like being kept in the dark! I better not be getting tackled by Big Show again!"

Beth laughed, "Zoe's mean, but not that mean!" She shot a look at the Creative team member, "Seriously, you have balls standing up to Chris and Dwayne like you have the past two weeks."

Zoe shrugged again, "I'm not going to let two egomaniacs try and run the place. They can't just fuck off from the company and then come back and expect a red carpet arrival and star treatment. You work hard and get the rewards like everyone else. I said this from when we came up with this plan to bring around change. You work hard. You get the push. I want everything to be fair now. I don't think anyone appreciates when Vince brings in the big names who turned their backs on the company to take away the spotlight from someone else."

Nikki Garcia, one half of the Bella twins, nodded on agreement, "While Dwayne and John will have a great mainevent, I really don't think it's fair on anyone else, that he got to come in like that. I hope you don't let him win."

At the hesitant look on Zoe's face, Eve raised an eyebrow, "Oh my god, he's going to win!"

Zoe shook her head, furiously, "I can't do anything! Dwayne went and complained to the Board of Directors, so I'm not allowed to vote on the booking decision." She sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Paul told me yesterday at the house show in Montreal. Apparently it's a conflict of interest."

Maryse raised an eyebrow, "Do they know who Paul's wife is?"

The 23 year old Boston native laughed, "That's what I said." She sombred up quickly, "But I really hope they make the right decision. However, they really need to figure out what they're going with John after Wrestlemania. If the Rock goes back to making movies, who will he feud with next? It's going to be a hard one, and Stephanie has made it clear she wants him away from any of the titles for a while."

Beth Phoenix raised another eyebrow, incredulously, "John Cena without a title for longer that 4 months? Good god, who did you brainwash?"

Zoe threw a pillow at her good friend, laughing, "Leave my cousin alone, you rat!" She grinned as Beth ducked out of the way of the wayward pillow, "Fingers crossed, they make a good decision but it will be interesting to see."

Eve caught sight of Maryse looking slightly nervous, and she frowned, "Maryse, what's wrong?"

The French Canadian tried to smile confidently, but failed, "Nothing."

Brie shared a look with AJ, and the two didn't buy it, "Maryse, tell us."

She wrung her hands together nervously, and chewed her lip, "Just what Zoe said, got me thinking about something." The girls looked at her expectantly and she sighed, "Alright, so I was talking to Torrie Wilson, who said she had spoken to Rena-"

Zoe frowned, "Rena?"

"Sable," corrected Maryse, "Anyway, Torrie told me that she was heading to Wrestlemania to watch with Alex, and that Rena had called her to tell her she was going as well and that they should organise dinner while they're there."

Eve frowned, "I don't understand." She glanced at the Bella twins, who also shook their heads at her, and Eve looked back at Maryse, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Maryse looked hesitantly at Zoe, before continuing, "Rena was invited by Vince to attend." She paused, "With her husband. Apparently, he has something important to discuss with them. Torrie said that he told Rena, he wanted something epic like Rock and Cena to happen again."

Realisation dawned on the Divas' faces, and Beth shook her head, "No way! They can't bring him back. No one will want to work with him, it's too unsafe!"

Zoe also shook her head, her face white, "Not unless you're the face of the company and you'll do anything for the company."

Maryse reached out again to wrap an arm around Zoe, "I'm so sorry, I didn't tell you sooner. I only realised it now when you talked about them finding a new feud for John, and it just clicked."

Nikki raised a hand in the air, "I'm sorry, but I'm still confused."

Brie rolled her eyes at her sister, and looked at AJ to explain. The small Smackdown diva looked at Nikki, "They're bringing back Brock Lesnar."

Nikki's eyes widened, "Holy shit."

Eve looked at Zoe, "Looks like you got more hard work to do."

Zoe couldn't even believe what had just happened. It all made sense in her head. There was no other reason why Vince would call Brock after all these years to a WWE event. They had left on bad terms, but obviously Vinve McMahon had once again seen the dollar signs associated with such a big name being brought back ot the WWE and was going to capitalise on another big match up. She ran a hand through her hair, "No one say a word of this to anyone, especially John."

Nikki frowned, "Why not John?"

Brie groaned, "Did I only get a brain when we were born?"

Beth Phoenix sighed, "We can't tell John yet, Nikki, because we need to find out if it's really him they want against Brock Lesnar."

Nikki's face paled, "This is not good."

As Eve moved to distract them by putting the movie back on, Maryse and Beth glanced at Zoe who was sitting in between them. The young girl had paled upon hearing what Maryse had said, and she was clearly thinking over everything. Maryse shared a look with Beth, before scooting closer to Zoe, "I could be wrong."

Zoe chuckled sadly, "You could, but knowing how this company works so spontaneously, I wouldn't be surprised if you were right."

"Fingers crossed, she's not," said Beth, shuffling closer to Zoe.

"I hope so too, Beth. I really do."

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you all enjoyed that! Let me know what you all think! :)


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Well this is awkward. I'm so sorry I've left it so long! So much has been going on and I hit the world's worst writer's block ever. I couldn't even write anything for my other stories. But now, I am back with some new ideas. This is a fairly long chapter and hopefully you enjoy and it sets some drama in motion! Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>27th March, 2012<span>

"Please don't be naked. Please don't be naked. Please don't be naked!"

"I can assure you, John boy, we are not naked."

"YOU'RE NAKED!"

CM Punk let out a bark of laughter as he brushed past his best friend, John Cena, to enter his tour bus bathroom. Zoe Winters shook her head, a disbelieving laugh leaving her lips, as she watched her cousin dry retch. Her cousin had decided to grace them with his presence early in the morning, much to their annoyance. Unfortunately for him, he had believed Punk's word, and removed his hand from shielding his eyes, only to find a very naked Punk making a dash for the bathroom. She moved back to the couch in the front of the bus, sitting on the edge of it, her hands reaching to tug Punk's shirt further over her thighs. Her eyes lit up with amusement as her cousin stumbled around the small kitchen area, intent on finding something. "You alright, John?" She asked, biting back another laugh at the sheer horror on her cousin's face.

The former WWE Champion looked appalled that she even asked him such a question, before shooting her a glare, "I'm fine," He replied, dryly, "Do you have a fork?"

Feigning innocence and batting her eyelashes at him, "Why do you need a fork?"

"To gauge my eyes out."

"I would've thought you'd seen many naked men in your time with the WWE." The unimpressed look that John sent her only made Zoe laugh harder, as he fell into a chair, his hand covering his eyes. "Oh calm down Johnny, you'll live. And why are you even awake at this hour?"

John shrugged, leaning back into the chair he had occupied, "No reason."

Zoe frowned, disbelieving that her cousin would come visit them for no particular reason. She leaned forward, a concerned look on her face, "Johnny, what happened?"

"Just thinking about Sunday is all."

The dark haired girl sighed, realising the purpose of his visit. As a member of the Creative team, she would know what the planned outcome for his match was. However, due to recent events and the uncovered fact that she was in fact John's cousin, she was now unable to be part of the planning process for that match. "John, you know I don't know anything about Sunday."

He glanced over, his head tilted back towards the ceiling, "I wasn't here to ask you if you knew about the match. I'm here to ask you what happens after."

Her breath hitched and Zoe paused, thinking over her answer. A week prior, during her movie night with her Diva friends, she was alerted to the fact that Brock Lesnar had been contacted in order to negotiate a contract with the WWE. Knowing Vince McMahon, she knew her cousin would be the target of a new feud with Brock Lesnar. Since finding out this information, she hadn't shared it with her cousin, on the grounds that she didn't want to stress him out too much especially since he'd been having problems with his wife. She tugged at the hem of her shirt, "John-"

"I saw Brock Lesnar."

Her fingers stilled from tugging the loose thread on the hem of her shirt, and she looked up at her cousin, who was staring at her intently. She swallowed, her heart hammering at the prospect of being caught out, "You did?"

"You want to tell me what's going on?"

She held his gaze, "I have no idea."

"You were never very good at lying Zo'."

Zoe threw her hands in the air, shaking her head, "I honestly have no idea about the plans with Brock Lesnar. All I know is through word of mouth from his wife to Torrie to Maryse. They were invited to Axxess and to the show by Vince. I have no idea if a deal is being signed. John, you have to believe me."

It took a moment, but Zoe let out a sigh of relief when her cousin nodded at her. He raked a hand through his hair, leaning forward in his seat, "I'm going to be feuding with Brock Lesnar aren't I?"

"Looks like it."

John snorted, "He's really on a high with bringing in the part timers isn't he? Whose next, Goldberg?" He paused, glancing at the bathroom door, "By the way, how long is he taking in there?!"

"Looking like this takes effort, John boy!"

Zoe bit back a laugh at the exclamation from her boyfriend from behind the closed bathroom door. She shook her head, rolling her eyes, "Don't encourage him." Zoe smiled at her cousin, "Are you alright otherwise?"

John knew what she was alluding to and he nodded, sending her a small smile, "I'm fine, Zo'. Let's just get through Wrestlemania week ok?" He glanced over as the bathroom door opened and sighed with relief when Punk exited it, dressed in shorts and a tshirt. "Oh thank god, I don't think I could've handle another sighting of your naked white ass."

CM Punk grinned proudly, "Your cousin sure can."

Zoe slapped Punk on the arm, while John looked horrified, dry retching in his seat. He quickly stood up and rubbed a hand over his face, "Sometimes I wonder why I put myself in these positions. I'll see you guys later right?"

Zoe nodded, standing up to see her cousin out of the tour bus. She leaned against the doorframe as John stepped out into the sunlight, "Let me know if you need anything, Johnny, ok?"

John smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I'm the one supposed to be taking care of you, Zo'." He leaned forward, kissing her on the cheek, "Call me later and we will get dinner with everyone. Love you."

"Love you too." She watched as he headed out amongst the other buses, and she turned back into the bus, shutting the door behind her. Her dark eyes lit up in amusement at the sight of CM Punk sprawled on the bed, a bowl of cereal in his hands. Curling up next to him, she stole his spoon and helped herself to a few bites of the cereal.

"Your cousin alright?"

"He is fine. Just worried about what they plan on doing with him and Brock."

Punk swiped his spoon back, sending a triumphant grin her way, "What makes you even think they are going to put Brock and him together?"

"Dwayne has to be back filming in two weeks. Therefore, John is without a feud and Vince saw the money with Dwayne, what makes you think he can't see the money with Brock?"

CM Punk nodded, "Whose winning between him and Dwayne?"

She shot him an exasperated look, "You know I don't know that."

"Who do you want to win?"

"It doesn't matter who I want to win. It's what's best for the company-" She paused, sending a wide eyed look to Punk, "Now if I were Vince McMahon, what would I be thinking?"

"How to possibly humiliate John Laurinaitis further?"

"Are you able to hold a conversation for longer than two minutes?"

A smirk crept onto CM Punk's lips, "I know something else that lasts longer than two minutes."

Zoe rolled her eyes, "That's debatable." She ignored the pout on Punk's face, and tapped her fingers against her knee. "If I was Vince McMahon.." Her dark eyes widened and she leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed her iPad. Working quickly, she opened up a blank webpage and searched something.

Punk watched in confusion as his girlfriend tapped away on her iPad, her smile slowly growing bigger by the second. Raising an eyebrow, "Not that I care anymore because you damaged my ego, but what are you smiling about?"

"If I was Vince McMahon and I brought in a huge movie star, what would be the one thing I wanted to guarantee they had?"

"Good public image?"

Zoe bounced in glee, "Close!" She spun the iPad around, pointing to the various articles and reviews she'd brought up on one page, "How about a good movie?"

Punk's eyes scanned the various articles and reviews she'd placed in front of him, and his lips curled into a smile, "Well would you look at that? They butchered GI Joe to pieces."

"How bad would it look on the company to have the Rock win their biggest main event ever whilst he is in the midst of bad reviews on his latest movie?"

"Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're scheming like this?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, putting the iPad back in its original spot. She smiled as she curled into Punk's side, her attention on the television show he had started. They only had a few hours together before he started his whirlwind duties for Axxess as WWE champion. Her day had immediately brightened just thinking about the fact that her cousin was pretty much guaranteed to win the main event, and maybe, things might just work out for them.

* * *

><p><span>30th March, 2012<span>

"So we've got Cena booked to win against Dwayne-"

"Yes!"

Paul Levesque's eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline as he sat amongst a group of Creative writers and bookers, including his wife Stephanie. Upon hearing the shriek from just outside the office door, he sent an exasperated look at his smirking wife, "Is your assistant lurking outside the office?"

Stephanie smiled innocently at her husband, "You only said she couldn't be in the room when we were discussing John's match. You never said she couldn't eavesdrop."

He rolled his eyes, "Zoe, you can come in now!"

Zoe's face bore all signs of innocence as she poked her head into the office, "Pardon?"

"Cut the crap and get in here. We have much to discuss." Paul snorted as Zoe and his wife shared a small high five. With only a few days till Wrestlemania, the meeting was being held between the Creative writers and bookers to finalise the winners of each match and the way they would affect future storylines. Zoe had been previously banned from said meeting due to the complaint from Dwayne Johnson regarding her relationship as family to John Cena. In regards to every single other match, she was allowed to help discuss and plan the matches. Paul shook his head, a small chuckle leaving his lips as Zoe beamed excitedly from her spot next to Stephanie McMahon. They very thought that her cousin would be getting the win over the Rock was enough to make Zoe happy, but she was also happy that Punk would be getting the win over Jericho. It didn't help the Canadian's case to win when he exposed Punk's family life to the entire world, and luckily the other writers and bookers agreed with the idea and had booked Punk to win comfortably over the older wrestler.

However, there was a few sore spots that didn't sit well with the girlfriend of CM Punk, "Daniel Bryan will also be dropping the title to Sheamus, and Kelly Kelly and Menounos will be winning their tag team match." Paul Levesque barely raised an eyebrow at the groan that came from his young employee after he made that announcement, "Is there a problem, Miss Winters?"

Zoe chewed on her lip, "Look, I'm all for having celebrities on the show. Hey, we even got one main eventing!" She grinned at the look Paul sent her, "But really? Having Menounos beat the Divas Champion and a former Divas Champion? I really don't think that's the best of options."

Stephanie sighed, sharing a look with her husband, "Look, we have to do it, for the sake of the appearance of Menounos. We can't have our guest stars losing on the grandest stage of all."

The young Boston girl paused, thinking over whether or not she should continue her argument. While it wasn't the most ideal bookings, at least the girls were being showcased at Wrestlemania. Without her insistence, there probably wouldn't have been a Divas match in the first place. She smiled at her bosses and the other employees, "Look, I understand. The win is for Maria." Her little dig at the end did not go missed by Paul, and he shared a look with his wife.

* * *

><p>The meeting was long and everything was discussed repeatedly, and final decisions were made for not just Wrestlemania but for the following few weeks. By the end of it, Zoe was exhausted and in need of coffee and a bed. It had been a busy week and she'd barely seen Punk, John and the rest of her friends due to their Axxess commitments and her duties as part of the Creative writing team. She was thankful for Punk's tour bus because that was pretty much the only place she could meet her boyfriend and have some form of peace and quiet. She pulled out her phone and pressed a few buttons, intent on calling Punk. After several rings, he answered and Zoe bit her lip laughing at how exhausted he sounded, "Oh god, what happened?"<p>

"Am I winning at Wrestlemania?"

She looked heavenward, "Punk, seriously. Just answer my question."

"No, you answer mine."

"My god, you're crabby when you're tired."

Punk groaned, "I hate people."

Zoe snorted, brushing her free hand through her long dark hair, "You've only got tomorrow left. I'm sure you can last."

"People tried to cop a feel of me today." The whining tone in his voice only made Zoe laugh harder, and Punk made an exasperated sound on the phone, "You are the worst girlfriend."

"You don't mean that."

"No, I don't. Now hurry up and get your ass to the bus and cook me some dinner."

Zoe rolled her eyes, "Ever the charmer. We're going for dinner with everyone so go put pants on and be ready by the time I get home."

"Are you always thinking I'm naked?"

"Goodbye Punk!" said Zoe with a laugh as she closed the phone, placing it in her pocket. As she ducked her head to look through her purse for her rental car keys, she didn't look where she was going and found herself smacking into a hard chest. She almost fell back to the ground but the other person reached out and grabbed her arms, steadying her on her feet. She shot them an apologetic smile, "I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz!" She took note of the tall man in front of her and frowned, trying to recognise where she had seen him before.

The man sent her a grin, reaching a hand up to brush his hair out of his eyes, "Relax, you're fine." He took a side step to step around her, before stopping and he raised an eyebrow, "Actually, could you tell me if Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque are still in the building?"

Zoe nodded, "Yeah, I actually just finished a meeting with them. Check the 3rd floor conference room of the hotel. They will probably still be in there." She tilted her head, sending him a questioning look, "You're a wrestler, aren't you?" At his sheepish grin, she smiled, "I knew I recognised you from somewhere!"

He laughed, shoving his hands in his pockets and ducking his head in embarassment, "Yeah I am. Anyway sorry for bumping into you..."

"Zoe."

He grinned, "Zoe. Have a good night."

She watched as he walked away, "Wait, what's your name?"

The man turned, walking backwards, a smirk now curling his lips, "You'll know soon enough."

Zoe shook her head, a smile tugging on her own lips. She didn't doubt him at all. Knowing the WWE, they were probably going to throw him into Raw or Smackdown soon if they were already calling him up during Wrestlemania. Her smile only grew thinking about the bookings and direction that some of her friends' storylines had been finalised for. Wrestlemania was shaping up to be an amazing night and she was so happy that she was going to be a part of it and give some of the wrestlers the recognition and glory that they deserved.

* * *

><p><span>31st March, 2012<span>

"Can you please hurry up? We are going to be late!"

"Five minutes!"

"That's what you said twenty minutes ago! Hurry up or I'm going to fall asleep and we won't go to the Hall of Fame ceremony."

"You better not be lieing on the couch, Phil! I am not re-ironing that suit of yours if you wrinkle it!"

CM Punk's eye shot open and he leapt off the couch of the bus that he had been resting on. His hands moved quickly, smoothing out the lines in his suit, a sigh of relief leaving his lips as he realised it hadn't wrinkled too bad. He shot a concerned look at the bedroom door. Zoe had been taking her time getting ready and he glanced nervously at his watch, realising they were going to be late if she didn't start to hurry up. "Zoe! C'mon!" His breath hitched in his throat as his girlfriend left the bedroom in the dress she'd picked out for the ceremony. A grin slowly crept up on his face as he watched her nervously fidget with the dress.

Zoe swept her hands over the front of her one shouldered navy wrap dress nervously, "Do I look ok?"

"I don't think it's necessary we leave this bus tonight. Or ever."

She smacked him hard in the chest with her purse, "You are such a pig."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning in for a quick kiss, "You love it." He smiled at the blush that now stained her cheeks and he stole another kiss from her, "Now c'mon road wife, we are late!"

* * *

><p>"You are late."<p>

Zoe sent an exasperated look at her cousin as they sat front row of the Hall of Fame ceremony, "Don't start-"

"Told you so."

Zoe looked heavenward, "How did I get stuck sitting in between you two?"

"Want to know why we're late, John?"

John shot a glare at his friend, "No."

"I think you do-"

"I really think he doesn't, Punk! Now shut up!" Punk sent a smirk to Zoe, leaning back in his seat to wrap an arm around her shoulders. She glanced nervously around her at the other guests seated nearby, and squirmed in her seat.

Punk raised an eyebrow, "I thought I told you to go to the bathroom before we left."

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes, "It's not that. I just.. I'm worried the other production staff will see and they will say something."

The WWE Champion sighed, removing his arm from around her shoulders. Ever since the Rock had announced that Punk and Zoe were together, Paul Levesque had done damage control to assure the rest of the production staff that it was just a rumour and nothing had eventuated. As far as they were concerned, she was John's cousin, who was a close friend of the other wrestlers. This was done so to keep Zoe's job but also so she didn't get taken off any more Wrestlemania matches. He was slightly disappointed that they had to keep their affection down to a minimum in public but on the night before Wrestlemania, he just wanted to relax with his girlfriend at the HOF ceremony without any drama, but clearly he wasn't going to get that.

Zoe chewed her lip, her eyes taking in the disappointed look that flashed in Punk's eyes. Casting another glance around the room, she noticed that the few rows surrounding them didn't have any production staff sitting in them, so she shuffled closer to Punk. She pressed her legs closer to his, her hand also coming down to rest of his leg lightly. She sent him a small smile and her heart soared when he returned it. "Love you," she whispered, rubbing his leg slightly.

Punk couldn't wait till after Wrestlemania. He would not only have the Championship still, but he would also be able to have his girl any way he wanted without worrying the other staff members, "Love you more, Zo'."

* * *

><p><span>1st April, 2012<span>

The rest of the night passed without much incidence. Zoe was elated to see that Maryse had gotten an invite to the HOF ceremony with Mike and the two danced all night with the other Divas, celebrating the eve of the biggest PPV of the year. Zoe had so much fun and was exhausted by the time she got back to the bus. Punk and her had the same idea and both curled up in bed, falling asleep instantly with Punk wrapped around her tightly. Zoe was glad that they got a lot of sleep because right now, on Wrestlemania Day, she was running around like a chicken without a head. Clutching a pile of scripts, she sprinted down the corridor of the arena, intent on finding the male locker room to drop off the final papers. Eventually, she found it, after almost toppling over Daniel Bryan, who was returning to the room after meeting Stephanie to discuss some apparent last minute changes. When she heard that, Zoe had frowned, not having heard anything about match changes. With a shrug, she dumped the scripts there and headed back to the main monitor bay area to get ready for the start of the show. Her hands were shaking as she waited in the area, her headset firmly planted on her head.

"Sweetie, you need to relax."

The sentiment had her jumping on the spot, her heart racing. Zoe sent a wide-eyed look to Stephanie, "Jesus, who sneaks up on someone like that?"

Stephanie McMahon smiled, patting her shoulder, "Calm down, Zo'. Everything will be fine."

Zoe nodded, folding her arms across her chest in an attempt to stop the shaking. As the opening for Wrestlemania happened, her nerves got even worse and she tried to keep calm as the opening match was announced. Her smile grew as she watched Sheamus make his way to the ring and then the Champion, Daniel Bryan, along with AJ. She crossed her fingers, hoping their match went off without a hitch. She let out a laugh as Daniel insisted in getting a kiss from AJ, but then all hell broke loose.

As Daniel Bryan turned around, Sheamus delivered the Brogue Kick and covered Daniel to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Zoe swore she could only hear her heart beating at this stage, as she watched in horror as Daniel Bryan lost the title in 18 seconds. Her stomach dropped, realising that was the last minute change. She turned to face Stephanie, a million questions running through her head, but the Chairman's daughter had conveniently disappeared from her side. She spun around, her eyes darting everywhere to find the woman, but instead she was met with incredulous faces of the Superstars and Divas. Her attention turned to the curtain as Daniel came storming backstage, his face twisted in fury. "Daniel!" cried Zoe, her face slowly losing colour.

He glared at her, "Some change you brought about to this place." He stormed off, shaking AJ from his arm.

AJ bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Zoe, "Did you know Stephanie changed the ending?"

Zoe shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper, "I had no idea."

The small dark haired girl nodded, patting Zoe's arm, "I'll go explain to him, Zoe. It will be fine, just stay here, ok?"

The Creative writer could only watch helplessly as AJ ran after the former Champion. She turned on her heel to face Sheamus, who didn't look happy at all for his title win. He shook his head at her, "It wasn't supposed to be this way. I don't know why they did this, but it's not right and you need to find a way to redeem yourselves."

"ZOE!"

Zoe closed her eyes, her breathing getting more frantic as John, Punk and Mike Mizanin appeared in her line of vision. Opening her eyes slowly, she sighed, "What?"

"What the fuck was that?!"

The look on her boyfriend's face would forever remain with Zoe as a mixture of disappointment and anger and it was all towards her. She shook her head, "I have no idea what is going on, guys! You have to believe me!"

John noticed that his cousin was shaking and getting more pale, and he stepped forward, wrapping her in a hug, "It's ok, Zo'. We will sort this out. Let's just get through the rest of the show without any surprises."

Punk ran a hand through his hair, an angry look on his face, "How did you not know?"

Zoe stared at him, incredulously, "Really? We're going to do this again! You really don't believe that they would pull something behind my back again? Thanks for your trust, babe." She spat the final word, her jaw clenched as she stared at Punk.

The WWE Champion shook his head slowly, rubbing his hands over his face, "Fuck!" He kicked a nearby chair in anger, throwing his hands in the air. "If they screw over any more matches, so help me God, I will do more than air my grievances on air again."

John wrapped his arms tighter around his cousin, pressing his lips to her hair, as he watched the Superstars and Divas around them dissolve into arguments. "It's going to be okay, babygirl. Just relax. They can't pull any more stunts. I'll go find Stephanie and see what's going on."

Zoe wanted to believe he was right.

But he was so wrong.

* * *

><p>"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"<p>

"ZOE!"

"Miss Winters, you need to calm down."

Zoe almost snarled at her two bosses, "Do not tell me to calm down!" She slammed her hand against the wooden doorframe of the makeshift office of Stephanie and Paul Levesque, "I want some answers and I want them now!"

Paul shared a look with his wife, rising from the table he was leaning against. He had cleaned up from his match with the Undertaker, and had retired to his office to rest for the remainder of Wrestlemania. The former Champion eyed the angry woman in front of him, noting how distressed and furious she was. He took a deep breath, resigning himself to the fact that he knew this was coming. From the moment they had decided on the match outcome, he knew that his favourite creative writer, after his wife, would be beyond furious. He raised a hand gently, trying to calm the dark haired woman down, "Zoe, you have to understand-"

"I will never understand anything that goes on around here."

"Do you want answers or not?!" snapped Paul, "Listen to me! It was a decision that had to be made. It's what's best for the company."

The laughter that bubbled out of Zoe's mouth was neither cheerful or fun, but almost hysterical as she shook her head at the tall man before her, "Did you really just pull that line from your ass? Seven months ago, you were whistling a different tune. Hell, last week, we were all on the same page. But tonight?" She pointed furiously at the television screen airing the final moments of Wrestlemania, "This was decided last minute, wasn't it?" Her face paused as she watched the shared look between husband and wife, "No.. This was the plan all along, wasn't it?!"

Stephanie McMahon stepped forward, reaching out to her employee, "Zoe, we're sorry, but it had to be done."

Zoe shook her head, "No it didn't! The last few months.. Did they mean nothing to you guys? We were making a change and it was working! And then you had to go do this!'

"It was what was best-"

"NO!" roared Zoe, flailing her arms wildly, "It was not best. Who in their right mind would make the face of the company lose to the man who has turned his back on the company multiple times? Not only that, but on the biggest stage of them all? You want to kick him even more while he's down?" She shook her head, "He bends over backwards for this company and look at how you repay him! Not only that but you make Daniel Bryan lose in EIGHTEEN SECONDS!"

The youngest McMahon child sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Zoe, please, you need to calm down."

"I was calm until you screwed my cousin over! No wait! I was calm until you screwed both my friend and cousin over!" She waved her arms around again, "I thought we were a team."

"We are, but at the end of the day, it's not your company and you can't make those decisions."

Zoe glared at Paul, "It's not your company either!"

"ZOE!" yelled Stephanie, shocked at her employee.

A fourth voice startled the three, "Well, it's good to know what you think, Miss Winters. However, like my son-in-law has explained, this is not your company and you do not have final say in the decisions." Vince McMahon stepped into the room, a hand reaching up to loosen the tie around his neck, "It was unfortunate that your cousin had to lose but we have to think of the company."

Zoe didn't even know what possessed her to go toe to toe with her employer and more importantly, the CEO of the WWE. Maybe it was the months of stress, the months of travelling or the ongoing saga that came with the job, but Zoe was sure on one thing. She had had enough of their bullshit. Fixing Mr McMahon with a glare of her own, she pushed her tongue into her cheek, already gearing up for a fight, "No, you only think of the money that your company can make-"

"Excuse me-"

"No, excuse me!" yelled Zoe, startling Vince, "I have worked tirelessly over the past few months to help fix this product, but at the end of the day, you don't care. You don't care about the wrestlers that need a push. You don't care about the stale storylines. No, you only care to market your product to the casual fan. You forget about the people that buy your magazines, that follow your tour around America, and the ones that save their weekly wage just to come to a PPV. You have wrestling fans, Vince, and they are diehard. Wrestling is never going to be the NFL. It is never going to be on that stage, so stop trying to get that audience. Stop trying to make it such a massive sport that a casual fan can enjoy. Make it real for the people who do tune in each week to watch!" She scrunched her eyes up, willing herself not to cry from exhaustion and anger, "You have the most dedicated staff who will do anything to get a spot on television or on the live shows! But instead, you make the deals that can help you break that barrier of reaching out to the other fans. You're never going to get there, Vince. But even if you do, you're going to lose so many more on your way to do so. You've set your own brass rings, Vince, and you're never going to reach them."

Vince paused, staring at her, "Are you done?"

"Probably not."

The familiar words resounded with Vince and he shook his head, "You have a lot of balls coming in here and saying these things to me-"

"It's the truth."

Vince's face slowly reddened, and Zoe could tell she was hitting a nerve with the head of the company, "Miss Winters, I can do whatever the hell I want with my company. Sure, you brought around change and it was good, but at the end of the day, what I say goes. And if I want the Rock to beat John Cena, you're damn well sure I will do it. And if I want the Rock to become WWE Champion, then you're damn well sure I am going to do that.."

His rant continued, but Zoe had stopped listening. Her heart stopped beating the moment he said WWE Champion. She knew exactly what these plans were and why everything had happened as it did. Her eyes widened, and she shook her head continuously, "You're going to let him win.."

Her statement was so quiet that Vince barely heard it over his ongoing rant. He paused, leaning closer to the young woman, "I beg your pardon?"

"To set the stage for a rematch. He's going to be WWE Champion. And him and John will fight again at Wrestlemania." The silence that then enveloped the room was all the confirmation that Zoe needed. The cycle was about to begin again, and a resigned sigh escaped her lips, before she spoke again, "This company is fucked."

It was almost comical the way that Vince's face turned purple, "Excuse me?"

"I quit." She fixed her boss with a stare, "I'm done. I've had it. I can't work in a place of ignorance. I will not be a part of this." Turning on her heel, she exited the office, not even bothering with a second glance over her shoulder.

She was done.

* * *

><p>AN: Trust me, the drama doesn't end there! Hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you all think! Also check out my new one, Life in Colour, which will be updated in the next few days as well as Bright Lights!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you to all those that reviewed the last chapter! Had a bit of a brain wave with this story so I've got parts of future chapters written so expect more regular updates.. fingers crossed! In other news, my chapter for Bright Lights got scrapped due to it just being.. bad. So hopefully, I'll have a new one up in a week or so! Anyway enjoy this new chapter!

* * *

><p><span>1st April, 2012<span>

"Punk, you seriously need to calm the fuck down. Wait.. Jesus, Zoe! Punk, stop swearing like a fucking pirate and get to my bus. I found Zoe."

John Cena threw his phone onto the couch in his bus and he stared at his younger cousin as she sat on the other couch, her eyes red from what he assumed were tears. He ran a hand through his hair not knowing what to say to his cousin. Wrestlemania had turned into a terrible nightmare. First with Daniel, Zack and now him. He didn't even know where to start with his cousin.

"Johnny-"

He held up a hand, his eyes shut for a moment, not wanting to blow up at the young girl seated before him. John took a deep breath, before speaking, "Zoe, what the hell happened tonight?"

The dark haired girl shook her head, a fresh set of tears brimming her eyes. She was at a loss for words. She had no idea any of that was happening. Sure, Daniel was going to lose but not in 18 seconds. They had a whole 10 minute match planned out. And Zack getting the low blow from Eve? Also something that was slipped by her. She didn't even want to think about what happened to her cousin. Her heart was torn up over the last minute decision for John to lose to the Rock, and judging by the look on his face, she knew it was killing him too. "I don't know.." She trailed off, reaching a hand up to wipe at her eyes.

John took another deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You had no idea did you?" She shook her head, and he groaned, droppping down on to the other couch, "I figured something was up as soon as the Daniel Bryan thing happened." His head shot up at the loud pounding against his bus door. He jumped up, pressing the button to open it and not only did CM Punk enter the bus, but also Beth, Eve, Daniel and AJ.

"Zoe, where the fuck have you been?" CM Punk stepped forward, shaking his head at his girlfriend, "We've been looking everywhere for you! What the fuck is going on?!"

Zoe's eyes darted between all her friends and the looks on their faces said it all. They were beyond disappointed and angry. Her breathing started to get shorter and the colour drained from her face, her anxiety coming to rise. John realised what was happening and slid onto the couch next to her, wrapping an arm around her to calm her down. "Hey, c'mon now, Zoe. Just calm down. Just talk to us. C'mon baby girl, deep breaths."

Zoe tried to slow down her breathing, her eyes never leaving the group of people standing before her. Taking a deep breath, she explained herself, "I had no idea this was all going to happen. You have to believe me. I had no idea whatsoever."

Silence passed between the group of wrestlers before a quiet voice broke the silence, "How could you not know?"

Zoe stared at Eve, her heart dropping at the tears forming in the Colorado native's eyes, "You know it's happened before, Eve. It's happened all year-"

"But I thought Steph and Paul were in on changing this place up with you?"

Zoe shook her head, her dark hair shaking back and forth across her face, "You and me both. I'm so sorry this happened but you have to believe I never wanted it like this."

Eve bit her lip, the first of her tears falling down her face, "I'm all for being a heel Diva, but now I'm not just a heel. I'm the company slut." She shook her head, pushing Beth's comforting hand off her arm, "They made me low blow Zack out there. He's not talking to me. He had no idea and now I have to go home to him and explain that it was the plan all along and our friend, who we thought we could trust to help us move along in this business, had no idea it was happening and didn't stop it." She turned on her heel quickly and pushed past Daniel to leave the bus, with Beth following her quickly to see if she was alright.

Zoe looked down at her shaking hands, unsure of what to make of Eve's words. She knew why she was upset, but it wasn't Zoe's fault. She didn't ask for this. The problem was that she didn't know it was going to happen, and if she did, she would've stopped it. But now, she wasn't so sure the others were believing her. "I really want to believe that you've been working hard to change everything around here." Zoe turned her attention to Daniel, the former World Heavyweight Champion as he stood in front of her, looking just as disappointed as everyone else. "But looking back at everything that happened and even tonight, it's made me realise you've done more harm than good."

"Daniel, man, c'mon-"

"No, John, I'm serious!" cried Daniel, his eyes dark with fury, "She was fighting for us and we believed her. But I always had this bad feeling that if we rocked the boat of the WWE too much, it was going to come and bite us in the ass one day. And naturally, it happens on the biggest stage of them all." Daniel ran a hand through his hair, "I lost the World title in 18 seconds. When they told me, I couldn't do anything about it. I wanted so badly to tell Sheamus to scratch the 18 second scenario and just have our match, but then I realised that that was the reason I lost it. Me being part of this shaking up the WWE was the reason I lost that title, and I'm done. I don't want to be a part of your little saga anymore. I'm going to get that title back without any of you."

Zoe bit back her tears, "Daniel, please." She paused, struggling to find the words that she wanted to say to the upset man, "I'm so sorry for this, but please I'm not to blame here!"

Daniel shook his head, sadly, "I want to believe that, but look at the common denominator here. It's you. Because of you and your involvement in our characters. I'm sorry, Zoe, but I just can't have anything to do with this crusade you have going against the WWE any longer."

As the former champion left the bus, AJ rushed forward to grab Zoe in a hug, "I'm so sorry, Zoe. I tried to talk to him." She clutched the writer tighter around the shoulders, "I'll keep trying, I promise." Moving back, AJ tried to put a smile on her face before following her onscreen boyfriend out of the bus, leaving just John, Punk and Zoe.

Zoe looked up at her boyfriend, the WWE Champion unusually quiet considering the circumstances. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair quickly, "C'mon Zo'. Let's go to the bus."

"You're not going to tell me it's my fault?"

Punk shook his head and Zoe could see the disappointment in his eyes, "I don't know what to believe anymore. But what I do know, is that I want to go to my bus and enjoy my victory like I wanted to with my girlfriend." He reached his hand forward to gesture for hers, "Please, let's not do this right now. Just come home please."

John Cena wrapped his arms around Zoe, bringing her against his chest. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek, "Call me if you need anything, alright? Love you, Zo'" He watched, his heart breaking for his cousin, as she slowly moved from the couch and into the arms of CM Punk. Judging by the look on Punk's face, John should've really told Zoe to stay with him on the bus. He sent them a small wave as the two left his bus, and he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He couldn't believe that Wrestlemania had turned out like it did. When Stephanie McMahon had pulled him aside before he went out on stage to change the decision, he'd been devestated. Looking back, he realised it was a sneaky move because it rattled him for most of the match and if he had more time, he could've worked out a way to change their minds and let him win. But he was exactly like how Punk told the world that night. He was an asskisser and he wasn't going to question anything until after the match. Leaning back on the couch, he glanced heavenward, hoping and praying that his cousin would be alright.

* * *

><p>The walk to CM Punk's bus was beyond quiet. Neither spoke a word to each other and Zoe clutched his hand like her life depended on it, afraid that if she let go, he would leave her. Zoe had gotten ready for bed quickly, her small body curled up on her side of the bed while Punk was in the shower, washing away the sweat from his match. Zoe looked at the ceiling of the bus, her mind all over the place. She couldn't even wrap her head around the saga that was Wrestlemania 28. She was horrified that all these changes had occurred, and she realised that she had no mentioned to anyone yet that she had quit. Her brow furrowed, her mind going crazy thinking about at what point did they decide to make these changes. Zoe knew it was weeks in advance of planning and the whole few weeks beforehand had been a charade. Her thoughts paused as Punk exited the bathroom and entered the bedroom, closing the door to the small area behind him. Dressed only in gym shorts, Punk slid under the covers slowly. It felt like hours before his arm reached out to pull her close to him and Zoe buried her head into the crook of his neck, a sob leaving her body almost immediately.<p>

As angry as Punk was over Wrestlemania 28, hearing his girlfriend break into sobs was enough to make him forget about his anger and clutch her close to his chest. He buried his own head into her hair and mumbled against the dark hair, "Zoe, c'mon, everything is going to be fine."

"It's hard to believe that when you don't even believe it yourself, Punk," cried Zoe, turning her head to press her cheek against his shoulder, "I don't know how many times I can tell you all that I had no idea-"

Punk shushed her, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "I know, baby. Just calm down, alright? Let's get some sleep and we will worry about it all tomorrow morning. Hopefully Raw won't be as unpredictable."

Zoe felt his arms wrap around her tighter and another lingering kiss was placed against her head. It did nothing to comfort the growing anxiety that she was feeling. If this is the sort of stunt the WWE would pull at a major PPV, she was honestly worried to pieces over the next night's Raw.

* * *

><p><span>2nd April, 2012<span>

Trying to avoid the McMahons and avoid bringing up the face that she had left the company was much trickier than Zoe had anticipated. Feigning an excuse that she had the night off, Zoe hid in the locker room, much to her boyfriend and cousins' growing suspicions that something was wrong with the young Creative Writer. It was only when the boys wanted to go to the monitor bay that Zoe realised it was inevitable that they would find out about what she did the previous night. She tried make the smile on her face real as she curled her arm around her cousin's own arm and headed to the monitor bay for the weekly ritual of watching the show from backstage. She curled up in a seat next to CM Punk, her boyfriend casually resting an arm around the back of the chair. The dark haired girl had been pleasantly surprised by the change in his mood during the day and thought that maybe he was slowly coming around to believing her that she had no idea of the changes that occured the previous night.

As Raw came back from a break from the opening promo, there was a collective groan from the wrestlers watching backstage as the Rock made an appearance in the ring in the American Airlines Arena. The crowd was going crazy, in contrast to the angry wrestlers backstage, their eyes collectively glaring at the monitors in front of them. As the Rock continued with his promo, Zoe could hear the grumblings around her from the other wrestlers and her stomach dropped remembering her confrontation with the McMahon's yesterday. The promo was slowly starting to make sense in her mind especially when the Rock started to say he had a vision.

Mike Mizanin scoffed from beside Punk, "Would that vision include being able to complete a promo without mentioning jabroni once?"

Punk snorted, "Or strudel?"

All eyes were on the Rock as he spoke from the ring, "The Rock will walk down that aisle as the jabroni-beating, pie-eating, trail-blazing, eyebrow-raising, one vision in mind, don't need no repeating! The Rock is going to be.. WWE Champion."

The silence that followed the announcement was deafening backstage, and it only took a moment before all hell broke loose. Zoe's eyes had fluttered shut as the Rock had barely uttered the words WWE Champion and what she didn't realise was that her boyfriend had seen her.

It was in that moment that Punk wished he hadn't turned to look at his girlfriend. But as he watched his girlfriend almost ready herself for the Rock's announcement, it became all too clear that she knew exactly what was about to happen. And she hadn't even mentioned a thing to Punk. He tore his arm away from around her chair and the action startled her as she jumped in her seat, her brow furrowed at the look of anger on Punk's face. He shook his head at her, "You are un-fucking-believable."

The harsh words that were spat at her made Zoe still in her seat. Around her, Superstars and Divas were up and about in the monitor bay, arguing with one another, all hell bent on finding out why the Rock suddenly got his chance to be WWE Champion after how many years of not being with the company. "Punk-" she tried, standing up to reach a hand out to him.

He jerked his arm away from her, "Zoe. Leave me alone." His attention turned towards the curtain where the Rock appeared from and his face turned into a scowl at the mere sight of Dwayne Johnson.

The Rock sent a wide smile to the WWE Champion, "I'll be seeing you soon, Phil."

Punk stepped forward, his hand protectively over the WWE Championship that was slung across his shoulder, "You'll be seeing me from flat on your back after I make you go to sleep and beat you at whatever time you choose to come after my title."

The smile barely made a move from the Rock's face as he eyed the title on Punk's shoulder. He took a step closer, "I'm working my way through your little band of misfits. First, I beat your boy John, and now I'm going to beat you. And then after that, I'm going to beat every single one of you that comes after my title. You just don't get it do you? I'm here to fix everything that has gone wrong with the WWE over the past few months. Starting with the decision to make you Champion for as long as they have."

John Cena lunged forward, grabbing CM Punk by the arms to prevent him from swinging at the Rock. The Miz also stepped infront of Punk, pushing him back, before turning and sending a glare of him own at the movie star, "That's where you're wrong, Dwayne." Mike pushed Punk back again, "You're everything that's wrong with this company. We've all worked hard and you just step in here and take what could be ours."

The Rock's grin only broadened, "C'mon Mizanin. I had to save your main event last year. I had to save this one. And I guaran-damn-tee you, I'll be saving the next main event because for all your working hard? It means nothing at all." He cast a look over the group of Superstars and Divas that were surrounding the exchange, "You can thank me all later." He turned on his heel and disappeared down a corridor, leaving the atmosphere tense with anger and frustration.

It only took seconds before Punk rounded on his young girlfriend, "You better fucking explain yourself right now."

"Punk!" cried Beth, stepping forward with AJ to stand by Zoe's side, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Punk pointed a finger at Zoe, "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" At her deer in the headlights look, Punk laughed bitterly, "Jesus Christ, if you tell me one more time you had no idea, I'm going to start drinking."

John Cena turned his head back and forth between his cousin and his best friend. He had no idea what had just erupted but he had a bad feeling about it, judging by the look on Zoe's face, "Zo', what is going on? Did you know that was going to happen?"

"Yes."

The WWE Champion stood before his girlfriend disbelieving of the turn of events, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Zoe stepped forward, her eyes wide, "I only found out last night!"

"And you didn't think to tell me!?" roared Punk, stepping closer to his girlfriend, "Oh hey babe, guess what, they want the Rock to challenge for your title.. A little heads up would've been fucking nice! Maybe I could've stopped this!"

Watching her boyfriend become the next person to blame her for the unexpected turn of events over the past two days was Zoe's breaking point. Her blood soared high and her face became flushed with anger at the audacity her friends and boyfriend had for blaming her for everything. She stepped closer to Punk, a scowl marring her features, "Oh, I apologise Punk. It must've slipped my mind in between all the finger pointing at me for the drama that happened yesterday! Why don't we tell all these nice people that yesterday you didn't come looking for me to see if I was ok.. You came looking for me to blame me because the writers and bookers clearly lost faith in your friends!"

The straight edge wrestler snorted bitterly, "Do not turn this around on me-"

"No, but it is about you! That's your problem!" cried Zoe, throwing her arms out wildly by her side, "You've turned this whole thing around to be about you. You and your friends. That the team did this to target you specifically." She paused, glancing around at the audience gathered around them, "Did you ever think that maybe they did this because it was what the company needed to do? Not because they wanted to specifically target you?"

Punk pointed his finger at her accusingly, "And there you go!" He stepped closer to her, his finger still pointed at her accusingly, "The company needed to do this? You sound exactly like them-"

"Because that's what they told me last night!" yelled Zoe, her eyes brimming with tears of anger, "I went to go find Stephanie and Paul last night and ask them what the hell was going on! Believe me when I tell you this that I was just as shocked as you all were. And the first thing I did was to go find answers! You have to believe me!"

CM Punk's scowl softened slightly as he took in the look of anguish on his girlfriend's face. He went to say something before a production assistant interrupted him to tell him that his match with Mark Henry was next. Zoe watched him leave through the curtains, before she turned her attention to her cousin who stood there watching her carefully. John opened his arms up to his cousin, "C'mere baby girl." Zoe curled into his side, their eyes now trained to the monitor to watch the match unfold.

They had no idea that the night was only going to get much, much worse.

* * *

><p>"One minute, you don't want him to humiliate his family and then next minute, let's let him walk to ringside, cover Punk in alcohol and smash a bottle over his head! Do you have standards or do they come and go as quickly as you like to play hot potato with your titles?"<p>

If there ever was a time that Zoe Winters believed she could suffer from high blood pressure due to her job, this was one of those times. CM Punk's match with Mark Henry had ended in a count out as booked by the booking team, however, Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance to shoot a promo with Punk laying helpless on the floor, not knowing what to do. Much to the horror of the wrestlers backstage and the crowd in the arena, Jericho proceeded to pour alcohol all over the Straight-Edge wrestler and then smash a bottle against his head. This had resulted in an irate Zoe yelling at Stephanie and Paul as they stood backstage in the monitor area. Chris Jericho had once again disappeared but Punk was hunched over in a chair, an icepack clutched to the back of his head and a towel wrapped around his shoulders to dry off.

Stephanie cast a stony look at her former employee, "That's ironic. One minute you don't want anything to do with this company, and then next minute, you're telling me how to do my job."

John Cena stepped forward, a frown on his face, "Excuse me?"

Zoe stared at her former employer, her words rattling the young girl. She paused, rethinking her words before realising she wasn't an employee anymore so it really didn't matter, "Well, if anyone is going to tell you that you're doing a great job ruining your superstars and show, then who better than an ex-employee?"

"You quit?" shrieked Beth, stepping forward with AJ and Eve, "Since when?"

She brushed her dark hair from her face, "Since last night."

"I believe her choice words were 'this company is fucked'."

There weren't many people who could turn Zoe's blood to ice at the mere sound of it, but watching Vince McMahon enter the monitor bay made Zoe hesitate in her response. She regarded him cooly, pushing her tongue into her cheek, "It's not far from the truth is it?"

Vince's face all but turned a nasty shade of purple, reminding Zoe of the previous night, "Miss Winters, it's exactly what I said to you last night. This is not your company. It's mine. What I say goes. And at the end of the day, I could change the match right up until the bell is supposed to ring. Did you honestly think you could change it up around here?" He looked at the wrestlers surrounding the exchange, "Luckily, my daughter and son-in-law saw through your quite.. colourful.. plans and decided to do what was best for the company. And that's what we will continue to do without you, Miss Winters." He turned to face the wrestlers, his voice rising in volume, "I made you all who you are today and the thanks I get is you all going behind my back to make the show to what you want? I worked my ass off to build this company and I'm going to be the one calling the shots, not you. And not some little writer from Boston. Now let's get on with the show and someone please find security to escort Miss Winters out."

John spluttered for words, stepping in front of his cousin, "Vince, man c'mon-"

"Cena, I don't care if she's your cousin. She is not an employee and she is not allowed in this building." Vince caught sight of security, gesturing for them to come over, "Gentlemen, please escort this young lady outside. I've had enough of her drama for this evening."

Before security even had a chance to grab her by the arms, Beth, AJ and Eve darted forward, wrapping the young woman in a large hug, tears brimming their eyes. Eve buried her head against Zoe's shoulder, "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, Zoe. I'm so sorry."

Zoe sighed, willing herself not to cry at the turn of events. Slowly, she detached herself from the three women, before turning to follow the security guards. She didn't even meet her friends' eyes, but rather she kept her head down, focused on getting out of the building and fast. John Cena ran a hand through his short hair, his face blank with conflicting emotions. He had no idea what to feel and he caught sight of his friend Punk, realising that he was in the same conflicting predicament. Scratching his head, he pushed past the McMahons, readying himself to go out there and deliver a promo at the end of the show.

* * *

><p>Zoe Winters never dreamed that her wrestling career would end this way. Her heart was torn at the drama that had unfolded and she tried to will the tears away taht were slowly dripping down her face as she moved in the bus that was allocated to CM Punk. Her hands gripped her duffle bag tightly while she looked throughout the bus for her belongings. She stilled at the sound of the door opening, and didn't even turn around to see Punk enter the bus.<p>

The WWE Champion looked tired and drawn, a jumper thrown over his chest rather than changing completely from his wrestling attire. He tossed his bag onto the couch of the bus, barely looking up at what his girlfriend was doing.

"Your cousin got F5-ed by Brock Lesnar."

"You coming to blame me?"

"Fuck, Zoe, no." His eyebrow furrowed at the site of Zoe packing her things away. He ran a hand through his hair, stepping forward to intervene in his girlfriend's mad attempt to leave, "Zoe, what are you doing?"

"Packing."

His eyes closed for a second at the sad and short reply he received from the woman he loved. He reached a hand forward, tugging on her bag to stop her, "Baby, c'mon. You can stay here with me and we will figure something out."

"There is no we to figure something out."

He blinked, his whole body still at the words that left her mouth, "Excuse me?"

Zoe placed the bag on the ground, turning to face her boyfriend, "How can there be a we when you don't trust me?"

Punk shook his head, "Zo', I was just upset-"

"That's the thing!" interrupted Zoe, "That's exactly the problem. As soon as shit went down, the first person you went to to blame was me. You honestly thought I was a part of that! My god, even last night, you didn't talk your friends out of the manhunt for me.. instead you were heading the search!" She waited for him to deny it, but he didn't and Zoe let another few tears slide down her face, "Dwayne Johnson was right that day."

"What are you talking about?"

"When he said that you wouldn't want me when you lost your title or the going got tough-"

Punk threw his arms in the air, an annoyed look on his face, "Fuck off! You're really going to believe him?"

Zoe laughed bitterly, rubbing her sleeve along her face to dry her tears, "For all your 'I love you' speech that you gave, it meant nothing. Back then, you knew you weren't at risk of losing everything, but as soon as there was even the hint that everything was going to turn to shit, you rounded onto me and made me the scapegoat for whatever downfall happened over the past two nights." She picked up her bag, slinging it oer her shoulder, "That's part of the reason why I quit last night. Because as soon as everything went bad with Daniel, you were the first person to come to me and look to me to blame. Until you figure out what you want in life.. I'm going back to Boston. I'm going home and I'm not coming back until you decide where on your priorities list I fall." Zoe kept her head down as she pushed past the WWE Champion. As she took a step out of the bus, sobs shook her body at the fact Punk did nothing to stop her. Her steps faltered as her vision blurred with the oncoming anxiety attack and she was saved from falling face first by two familiar arms wrapping around her. She buried her head in their chest, her body shaking at the impact of the past two nights. Everything had fallen to pieces and she had no idea what to do.

* * *

><p><span>3rd April, 2012<span>

The hotel housing the WWE Superstars and Divas for Wrestlemania and Raw had never seen such a depressing atmosphere at breakfast. Whilst some wrestlers weren't part of the drama that occured, the rest were and they were dealing with the fall out much worse than anticipated. Silence had descended over a large breakfast table that sat many Superstars and Divas, their heads down whilst they ate their breakfast.

It only took Mike Mizanin a few minutes before he broke the deadlock, "Has anyone tried to call her?"

"Ten times."

"Fourteen calls and 20 text messages."

"I even called her mother."

Mike looked on sympathetically at the group, "You know it's our fault she ran off."

John sighed, taking a bite from his toast, "Understatement of the year."

AJ shook her head, "We took it out all on her and she really did have no idea." She cast a glance around at the people seated with her, "Maybe we did put too much pressure on her."

Daniel nodded, his expression full of remorse at the way he treated the young girl, "I won't deny that what I said was what I was feeling, but looking back, we shouldn't have done this to her. She was just one girl and we put all our problems on her." He glanced up at the approaching figure to their table, "Yo, Punk, you spoken to your girlfriend?"

Punk took a seat next to John, balancing his various plates on a tray, "What girlfriend?"

Beth blinked, "Excuse me?"

Even John looked at Punk curiously, "You broke up with her?"

The dark haired man shook his head, "She quit her job and she quit me." He sighed, slamming his cutlery on the table, "Didn't even give me a chance to apologise-"

"Well you were a dick."

His angry eyes met those of Brie Bella, "Thank you, Brianna." He drawled, rolling his eyes at the former Diva Champion, "Either way, she's taken off and I got no idea where she is."

As the group came to terms with the departure of their friend and co-worker, a sudden realisation descended upon all of them and John Cena was the first to voice it.

"What the hell are we going to do now?"

* * *

><p>AN: Let me know what you think! :)


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Thank you to all those that reviewed the last chapter! This one is a bit shorter than usual but sets the stage for the next part of the story! Also Bright Lights has a new chapter that I'll definitely be uploading tomorrow or the next day whenever I get a chance in between work and all! Hope you enjoy this next chapter. Just note that the first half has been fast forwarded a couple of months, and then it cuts back to post-wrestlemania Raw :)

* * *

><p><span>18th November, 2012<span>

"We could very well see Ryback become WWE Champion!"

"And now with Cena on top! This Ryback is unstoppable!"

"He's unbelievable!"

"Wait, what the? Who the hell are they? These three guys just came rushing through the crowd and attacked Ryback!"

"CM Punk was about to lose the title!"

Michael Cole paused, his eyes widening comically as he realised who the men currently attacking Ryback were, "Wait, that man clearing things out here.. He was a foot away from me. That's Roman Reigns from NXT! Wait, that's Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins! What the hell are they doing out here?"

As the three NXT wrestlers triple powerbombed Ryback through the announce table, CM Punk crawled over to John Cena and covered him for the win. He may have been booked for the win, but he was just as confused as John, Ryback and the rest of the WWE Universe as to why those three men appeared. Whilst the referee counted to three as Punk lay over John's prone body, the WWE Champion whispered to John, "What the hell is going on?"

"How the hell should I know?"

CM Punk cast a glance at Paul Heyman, his long time friend, and saw him look just as confused as everyone else. Despite the interruption by the three men, Punk became elated as the bell rang and celebrated in the ring with his defended title. He cast a glance to the crowd where the men had disappeared to and a bad feeling was forming in his gut. This looked all too familiar to last year and whilst he may have retained his title as booked, there was something about this win that made it feel like it could be one of his last.

* * *

><p>"It would be nice, once in a while, to be MADE AWARE OF WHO IS INTERFERING IN MY MATCH!"<p>

Stephanie McMahon rolled her eyes as CM Punk stormed backstage, his arms wrapped tightly around his WWE title. She swept a hand through her hair quickly, an eyebrow raised at the WWE Champion, "I don't understand what you are complaining about."

"I was booked weakly."

"My god, do you ever stop complaining?"

CM Punk glared at her, his jaw clenched. He opened his mouth to unleash another war of words with the Chairman's daughter, but he paused upon hearing the three men that interfered in his match enter the gorilla area. His lips quirked into a small smirk when he spied Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. He had been shocked when he had seen them rush through the crowd and beat down on Ryback. It was almost like the previous Nexus, but he was curious as to why this had been kept a secret. He knew the men well from NXT, especially Dean and Seth, who he had tried to help out come to the main roster previously. Unwrapping his arms from his Championship belt, he swung it over his shoulder and smirked at the men, "Dean Ambrose, nice way to make an entrance."

The younger man returned the smirk, reaching out a hand to shake, however Punk did not return the handshake and he frowned, pulling back his offered hand. From over Punk's shoulder, he saw that Stephanie McMahon had been joined by John Cena and Ryback, as well as her husband and a few other members of the roster. Dean raised an eyebrow, his Ohio drawl coming out, "Not happy to see us?"

"Oh I'm happy you're here. Just not on my time."

Seth snorted, "Look at you changing your tune. All for the little people this time last year but now it's all about you."

"Damn straight it is. I'm the WWE Champion."

Roman chuckled, "It really did go to his head."

Paul Levesque stepped in front of CM Punk, preparing to intercept any sort of fight that was brewing. He smiled at the three young men in front of him, and shook each of their hands, "Gentlemen, that was an impressive debut. I look forward to working with you."

Dean smirked, his eyes staring straight at Punk over Paul's shoulder, "Thank you sir."

Paul stepped back, allowing his wife to go forward and greet the three men, "She's done a really good job outlining what you boys will be getting up to the next few weeks and I really hope no one drops the ball on this like the Nexus."

Seth grinned, running a hand through his two-toned hair, "We're just grateful for any opportunity."

CM Punk cast a questioning glance back at John Cena who seemed just as confused as he did over the reason for the debut of these three men. There was something going on and considering the WWE was like a leaky tap when it came to gossip, he was surprised that they were unaware of what had transpired to lead these men here. He raised an eyebrow as John stepped closer to him, "What the hell is going on? Since when did Stephanie and Paul like rookies?"

John shrugged his shoulders, "I'm about as confused as you are. Heyman had no idea?"

"I asked him at ringside. Besides him almost pissing his pants in glee at these guys making it to the big time, he honestly had no idea." Punk frowned as Stephanie and Paul steered the three men away, engaged in conversation. He turned back to John, "Yeah something is not right."

The Boston native nodded, "I'm with you, man. Something is up."

"Guys, could you please hurry up? I'm starving!" CM Punk and John Cena rolled their eyes in unison at the whining of their friend, Mike Mizanin. As John slapped him upside the head, the three men made their way to the locker room, intent on cleaning up and heading out for the night for a few drinks. The locker room was buzzing with conversation about the debut of the three NXT rookies. Many of them had heard about Seth and Dean through the indies and Roman Reigns had also been impressing people in NXT.

A voice cut into Punk's thoughts as he pulled a tshirt over his head after his shower, "It's really bugging you, isn't it?"

Punk glanced at his friend, a sigh escaping his lips, "We've been down this road before. Last year, we were all for helping the little guys make their way up and look how that worked out for us." He watched as John winced, obviously remembering the drama that was Wrestlemania and the Raw after it. "I don't know about you. But I'm not keen for that again. It's my time now and as selfish as it sounds, I'm only looking out for myself. I don't need three rookies to help me win the Championship. If I'm supposed to be facing the Rock sometime soon, then there is no way people are going to believe I can beat him when I got these guys taking what a win means to me."

John sighed. Inside, he was agreeing with his friend. He had noticed the change in Punk over the past few months, since the drama of Wrestlemania and the Post-Raw show. Slowly and slowly, the selfishness in Punk was coming out and part of him didn't blame him, but part of him was worried his friend would completely change for the worst, just like the year before. Once a crusader for all rookies, John saw the reaction Punk gave Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns, and he knew that the WWE Champion was less than pleased with their debut impacting his win. Even John was worried about himself. He had no idea what this meant for him and how he would continue in the title race. His heart thumped in his chest, an anxious feeling gripping him as he realised this had shades of the past year all over it. Secrets hadn't been kept in a while and he was wondering what the McMahon family had planned this time around, and he had a sneaky suspicion it was all to accomodate the Rock. But he wasn't going to tell Punk that just yet, otherwise another pipebomb would surely be unleashed. He gripped the strap of his bag and threw it over his shoulder, throwing a nod in the direction of his friend, "You ready?"

Punk nodded, grabbing his own bag in the same manner and the pair left the locker room. They headed down the corridor of the arena, and met up with the rest of their usual group, all ready to head out for a few drinks. As they made their way outside into the cold Indiana weather, they pulled their jackets tighter around them. Punk groaned when he noticed AJ stop, her arm tugging Nick's jacket. After the somewhat amicable breakup between Nick and Nikki, AJ had slowly become a permanent fixture in the wrestler known as Dolph Ziggler's life and as well as their little group.

"Should we invite them?"

John raised an eyebrow at the small Diva, "Who?"

"The new guys!"

Nick looked heavenward, inwardly groaning at the small girl. AJ was way too nice for her own good, and he shook his head at the small woman next to him, "Nah, let's leave it. Maybe when they're properly part of the company." He glanced back over to the three males, who were laughing and talking as they made their way to their own vehicle. "Besides, they look like they're fine on their own."

A female laugh echoed in the carpark and John froze on the spot, his heart hammering in his chest, as he spun around to face the three males. From behind the car, a young woman had jumped out, laughing as she launched herself into the arms of Roman Reigns. He spun her around before placing her back on the ground, and she hooked an arm around Dean and Seth's necks, with the boys wrapping one arm each around her waist.

Even from a good few metres away, the others knew exactly who that woman was.

"Oh my god," muttered Mike.

AJ's eyes widened at the realisation, "Is that?"

Punk blinked, trying to see if his eyes were deceiving him. He recognised her as soon as he saw Roman spin her around. Nothing had changed about her in the few months since they'd spoken, and he couldn't believe she was here.

"Zoe."

* * *

><p><span>2nd April, 2012<span>

".. I'm going back to Boston. I'm going home and I'm not coming back until you decide where on your priorities list I fall." Zoe kept her head down as she pushed past the WWE Champion. As she took a step out of the bus, sobs shook her body at the fact Punk did nothing to stop her. Her steps faltered as her vision blurred with the oncoming anxiety attack and she was saved from falling face first by two familiar arms wrapping around her. She buried her head in their chest, her body shaking at the impact of the past two nights. Everything had fallen to pieces and she had no idea what to do.

As the arms wrapped tightly around her, Zoe struggled to come to terms with everything that happened and she tried desperately to calm down her breathing and stop the anxiety attack. She was comforted by the fact that the arms bracing her upwards were gently rubbing her back and she could hear quiet words of comfort being spoken. Tilting her head back, she glanced up at the man holding her upright and blinked at the sight of the WWE COO. Her shaky hand reached up to wipe the tears pooling along her lashes, "Paul, I'm so sorry-"

The man known to the WWE Universe as Triple H shook his head, shushing her quietly. He rubbed her arms gently, trying to calm her down and slow down the rapid breathing that was coming from the young girl, "Zoe, relax. Just breathe, ok?" As her breathing slowed down to a normal rate, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her back towards the arena back entrance, "Let's get inside and have a talk, Zoe."

The dark haired girl realised where he was guiding her back into and she stopped in her tracks, shaking her head. She wiped the remaining tears from her face with her sleeve, "Paul, I was just kicked out. I can't go back in there."

He offered her a small but tired smile, "Zoe, you're coming in with me. If anyone says anything, they'll have me to answer to. Now c'mon, we need to have a few words."

Zoe furrowed her brow but let him guide her back into the building. Paul kept his arm around her shoulders and led her down a few corridors to a room that was his makeshift TV office. He opened the door and gently pushed Zoe inside, before closing the door behind him. She glanced around the room, noticing the lack of his wife or father in law. Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose, the tell tale signs of a migraine already forming. At Paul's gesturing, she took a seat on the end of the dark leather couch in the room. She had no idea what Paul was expecting from her. She'd just spent the past two nights, either yelling at him or yelling at his father in law about the state of the WWE product. If anything, she was sure Paul would've been one of the last people to come and help her. Her hands were still shaking from the whirlwind of emotions that she had experienced over the last two days and she wanted nothing more than to go home before anything else transpired. Paul took a seat on the other end of the couch and turned his body to face hers, and Zoe looked at him expectantly.

"A lot has happened in the company over the last two nights. Hell, over the past week." Zoe stayed silent, and Paul continued, rubbing a tired hand over his face, "I know that we've been working hard to create something different here on Raw and Smackdown, and I know you worked your ass off to try and make not only the guys backstage happy but also the fans." Paul paused, letting out a long sigh before continuing, "I also know that Wrestlemania and Raw were not what you expected and not what you wanted."

Zoe shook her head, her teeth biting into her lip as she tried to keep the tears at bay, "It was a nightmare. It wasn't what I wanted at all."

"It wasn't what I wanted either."

Her dark locks swung across her face as she turned to stare at the WWE COO incredulously. She furrowed her brow, staring curiously at the man seated before her, "What are you talking about? You gave me the whole speech about it being what the company wanted!"

Paul smiled at her, "I've been around this business long enough to fool people into thinking my acting skills are up to par." As Zoe's eyes widened, he let out a small laugh, reaching a hand up to loosen the tie around his neck, "My father in law is still as powerful as ever. And my wife? I love her but she will always be a daddy's girl. Whatever her father wants, she will do, and he wanted those changes and she put them through-"

"But why not tell me? You guys left me out there for everyone to point the finger at!"

"She was too ashamed that after everything, she still was going to do whatever her father said. She knew that you'd try and stop it. That you'd get Punk, John, whoever to try and convince her otherwise, but she knew she had to do what her father told her." Paul ran a hand through his hair, "Stephanie was upset last night. When you quit, she was devastated. She sees a lot of herself in you and she honestly didn't want you to go."

Zoe sighed, "You have to understand the position I was put in last night-"

Paul held up a hand, silencing her, "No one blames you for that. We had been bracing ourselves for days about your reaction and you didn't surprise us at all. Your colourful vocabulary may have surprised Vince, but at the end of the day, we knew you'd make some sort of decision like that, which is why I brought you back in here. Vince liked you. He really loved what you were doing for the product and he was behind everything 100%, however, once he saw his control slipping away a bit too much and the Board started getting in his ear, that's when he made those rash decisions to change everything to what he knew."

"He just kicked me out of the building. I think him liking me might have ended a couple of hours ago."

"You said his company was fucked."

"Was I wrong?"

Paul's face brightened into a smirk, "That's why you're rehired."

Zoe blinked, "Remember when I said the company was fucked?"

His laugh echoed through the room, "Trust me, I know. We already had these plans for you, regardless of if you had quit or not."

She shot him a curious and wary look, "What plans?"

"We are shutting down FCW."

Zoe raised an eyebrow, an incredulous look on her face, "Do you want me to say what I really think?"

"You could let me finish explaining."

"That might help your situation and possibly change the tone of my rant."

Paul's smirk only got wider as he looked at the young woman in front of him. Stephanie had been right about her. She put everything into this business and she cared about all aspects of it, including the occasionally neglected developmental territory down in Florida. He leant back on the couch, his smirk still dancing on his lips, "We are closing it down and moving it to Full Sail University, where we will be creating NXT Wrestling. A weekly show to showcase the younger talents, rather than the online FCW shows that no one gets to see." At Zoe's curious look, he continued, "However, we've noticed that a number of them have the potential to come up to the main roster, and I want you to go down there and work with them."

Zoe's jaw dropped, "You want me to pick people to come to the main roster?"

Paul nodded, "We need some new people or maybe just one person. I already have some in mind but I want you to go down there and see for yourself."

Despite the fact that she had just quit on the grounds of the company screwing her over, Zoe wasn't going to even hesitate at this opportunity, "When do I start?"

"You're not even going to question it?"

The Boston native brushed her hair back from her face, "I'm not going to question it since you explained everything to me. However, if I get screwed over again, I can tell you now that a lot of papers will have a very interesting expose on the company."

Paul let out a bark of laughter, "My god, you are exactly like my wife." He shook his head, chuckling, "You have my word that we won't be pulling any more stunts. I can not apologise enough for what happened and I know what effect it had had on you." He glanced at her bag, "I want you to first take some time off."

She realised what he was eluding to, "I'm fine."

"No you're not. I take it you and resident loudmouth had a fight that didn't end too well?"

Zoe smiled sadly at her boss, "I think the fight was bound to happen sometime soon. Your family's stunt only just fast tracked it to now."

"You can tell him what really happened Zoe."

She shrugged her shoulders, her voice quiet, "It doesn't matter. I got to see his real reaction. Hell, I got to see everyone's real reactions and it just made me realise that there wasn't the most trustful of relationships amongst us."

Paul's heart sank at the sad look on Zoe's face. As soon as he had seen her come flying out of the bus in tears, he knew what had happened. He'd seen them all the day before and tonight target her for all the changes that had happened. They never meant for it to escalate like it did but it wasn't his company for him to go against what had been decided. He reached a hand forward, lightly patting her shoulder, "I can't tell you how sorry I am it came to this, Zoe."

She wiped her eyes again, more tears threatening to fall, "I know. It's fine. I'll be okay."

"I'll organise a flight home for you and then I'll call you and let you know when to make your way down to Florida."

Zoe nodded, "Tell Stephanie I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. You acted exactly like how anyone else would've in your situation. It's us who are going to be apologising profusely."

Zoe stood up, grabbing her bag to throw over her shoulder, "Thank you for the rehiring."

Paul smiled, "We weren't going to let you get away that easily."

She paused, "Hey Paul, can you not tell anyone where I go?"

The WWE COO frowned, standing up as well to face Zoe, "You don't want me to tell anyone you're going to Florida?"

"Or that I'm rehired."

"Why?"

She shrugged, "I think it's for the best. And most definitely, do not tell John. Even if he pulls the puppy dog eyes, don't tell him."

Paul snorted, "I'm sure I can resist John Cena's charms."

Zoe laughed softly, "You never know." Her hand tightened around her bag strap and she glanced towards the door, "I need to go find somewhere to stay tonight and then I'll be on my way home."

"I'll call you regarding your flight."

"Thanks," said Zoe. She brushed a hand through her hair, "I'll try not to cause too much trouble in Florida."

The older man rolled his eyes good naturedly, "I won't hold my breath on that one, Zoe."

As she bid the WWE COO goodbye, Zoe made her way out of the office and eventually out of the arena. Keeping her head down low, she managed to hail a cab down and take it to the closest hotel to the airport. She leant back in the cab back seat, her head spinning with everything that had happened. Shaking her head, she let out a laugh at the incredible turn of events and the fact that she was back in the WWE within 24 hours. Tilting her head back, she looked up at the night sky and sighed. She needed to get away for a bit and Florida was definitely the answer. Her phone buzzed from within her handbag and she realised the mass amount of text messages and phone calls that were on her phone. Maybe it was childish that she was ignoring them, but at the end of the day, her friends, cousin and now ex-boyfriend, hadn't trusted her and she wasn't ready to try and mend those bridges. It wasn't her side that fell apart anyway. Throwing her phone back in her bag, she closed her eyes, enjoying the silence and bracing herself for what Florida was going to offer. She really hoped that she would be able to make a difference there as well.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed it! And here sets the stage for new life in the WWE with Zoe!


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: New chapter, yay! Thank you for all the reviews on the previous chapter. Quite a number of people were thrown and also, I've already had people tell me which Shield member to pair her up with. LOL I hadn't even decided 100% if I was even doing that but I'll see how people respond and see which one seems to be getting the people vote :) Enjoy this next one. It's a bit of a long one and it's also broken up into the weeks after Wrestlemania and then fast forward to Survivor Series, just like I did in the first half on the story. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>13th April, 2012<span>

"You could've warned me about the heat in Florida."

"You could've warned me about your firing and rehiring with your job and your breakup with your boyfriend."

Zoe Winters snorted, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder, "Well played, mother. Well played." She groaned at the humid Florida weather and pulled her long dark hair into a messy bun on the top of her head, "This is getting unbearable."

"How's the house hunting going?"

The young woman sighed, glancing at the apartment building in front of her, "Tiring. I don't understand how people can live in these things without airconditioning. I'm going to melt."

"I don't understand why you don't just stay with your normal job-"

"Ma, if you continue to be like this, I'm going to hang up."

Lisa Winters let out an exasperated sigh that only made her daughter smile, "You know I just want the best for you, Zo'. I just don't like this idea of you running off and how am I supposed to not tell your cousin? He's going to bat his eyelashes at me and I'll cave."

"I thought you were immune to Cena smiles?" teased Zoe, as she made her way up to the entrance of the apartment building.

"Eyelashes, honey. Eyelashes."

"Right," drawled Zoe, pushing the door open of the building, "Anyway, I'm looking at an apartment right now. Let me put you on hold for a second till I get inside.. oh my god mom, it's hold. Calm down!" The 23 year old took the elevator up to the apartment she was planning on inspecting. She was quite hesitant with this one. It looked a bit expensive and while she had no idea how long she'd be in Florida for, she still wanted to be comfortable. The real estate agent was busy on the phone but smiled and opened the door to the apartment for Zoe and the young brunette stepped inside, her jaw dropping at the sight. She took her mother off hold and walked around the apartment, taking in all the features, "Wow."

"Is it nice?"

Zoe nodded, forgetting her mother couldn't see her, "Yeah it's beautiful." As she stood in the kitchen area, her heart sunk at the familiarity of the place and she remained silent on the phone, which worried her mother.

"Zoe, what's wrong?"

"It looks like my old apartment," said Zoe quietly, tears springing to her eyes. It had been months since she had been home and after Wrestlemania, she had just stayed with her parents, having missed them the most. She glanced around the room, a hand reaching up to wipe away her tears, "Sorry, I'm just being silly."

Lisa sighed, realising her daughter's pain, "Sweetheart, are you sure you want to do this? Why don't you come home for a bit longer?"

"I'm fine, mom. I'll be ok."

"Do you want the apartment?"

"I don't know. I think it's a bit out of my price-"

Lisa cut her off, "Zoe, forget it. Your father and I will go half in the rent with you. I just want you to be happy. And I know you're homesick and being somewhere that reminds you of home might start off being hard, but it will be better in the long run. Now go sign those forms alright?" If there was one thing that Lisa wanted for her daughter, it was a sense of stability to get back on her feet after the drama that occurred two weeks ago. The young girl had shown up on her doorstop the day after Raw with tears in her eyes and Lisa knew that something terrible had happened. She was more than mortified at the reactions and accusations from Zoe's friends, boyfriend and even her own cousin. John Cena had called her multiple times over the past two weeks and Lisa was adament that she hadn't seen Zoe and said she'd probably gone away on a trip after she was fired. And now with her daughter thousands of miles away again, Lisa could only pray that she enjoy her time down in Florida.

Zoe smiled into the phone, "Thanks mommy."

Lisa laughed, "I haven't heard you say that in a while! Look baby, just be careful down there. As soon as you want to come home, just come home alright?"

"I'll be fine, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

As Zoe finished signing the papers with the agent, she glanced at her phone to find some more messages from John, Punk and Beth. Biting her lip, she clicked them open to read. The first one from Beth read, '_Hey hun, I figured you were still ignoring us and I totally understand. I just wanted to apologise again for how we all reacted. You didn't deserve that Zoe and I'm so sorry. We miss you terribly._' Zoe sighed, deleting the message before opening John's message, '_Baby girl, please answer the phone. We are so sorry. Love you._' Zoe deleted that one as well before hesitating on opening the one from her former boyfriend, CM Punk. As she opened it, she shook her head at the brief message, tears flooding her eyes.

'_I'm sorry Zoe. I love you._'

"No, no you don't."

* * *

><p><span>15th April, 2012<span>

The messages and phone calls were constant. Zoe had managed to build up a strong resolve against answering the calls or messages from her friends and family. Sure, she was probably taking it too far but Zoe couldn't help but feel that the Rock had forseen this happening when he said it to her all those weeks ago. It hurt her knowing that these people had used her and had seen her as their scapegoat for the problems that occured in the WWE. She honestly thought she meant more to them than that. She thought she was their friend. She thought she was HIS girlfriend. When in actual fact, when the going got tough, they looked to her to blame. As she sat in the crowd for the FCW show, she tried to keep her mind at ease by scribbling down notes of the action happening in front of her. Despite it being the developmental territory and a Sunday night, Zoe was surprised at the crowd that had gathered and smiled at the loyal fans cheering for the guys who could one day be at the top of the WWE. The evening had been progressing well and she was actually enjoying the small scaled show. It was finally the main event and it was a Tap Out challenge. As the opponents came out, Zoe's lips quirked into a smile at the recognition of one of the men. Shaking her head laughing at how small the world was, she continued to write down notes about the two men and watched the match. The match progressed and Zoe's interest peaked again when the man she recognised put his opponent, James Bronson, in the submission move made famous by Regal. Her jaw dropped in surprise at the audacious move and her eyes caught sight of William Regal, who had been commentating. The older man got up and left the commentary area whilst being watched by the men in the ring. As the bell rang once James Bronson had tapped, Zoe watched as the victor stormed backstage to cut one of the most erratic promos she'd ever seen in her life.

Twenty minutes later and she was still sitting in the same seat, running through the notes she had made. A shadow was cast over her notepad and she glanced up at the smiling face of Paul Levesque. He smirked, "First day and you've managed to write a novel."

"These guys are amazing."

He laughed, the deep rumble echoing through the empty area, "I know. That's why I want to make them more accessible to the public. Turning this place into NXT wrestling will make them more mainstream and people will finally know about them. So when they debut, you won't be able to hear crickets chirp."

Zoe laughed, "It's a good idea but it's only making my job harder."

"And not all of them were working tonight. Our Champion wasn't on tonight because he didn't fit the card."

"Champion?"

"Seth Rollins. You'll meet him next week hopefully." The WWE COO took a seat next to her and glanced out at the area, where guys were packing up some of the equipment and a few of the talent were just relaxing in the ring. "You enjoyed it?"

"I really did. Especially the last match," said Zoe, flicking through her notes, "I've actually heard about him. He used to be that psycho from DragonGate. Daniel Bryan used to talk about him."

"I'd like to think 'used to be' is used loosely in Ambrose's case."

Zoe shot Paul an amused look, "So why did you hire him?"

"Because the kid had got something. I'd even go as far to say he's just as good as Punk on the mic," He tried not to notice the small wince that Zoe did and continued on, "He works well with a lot of the guys. Especially Regal." Paul glanced over at her notes, "But seriously, what the hell did you write?"

The dark haired girl clutched the notepad tightly to her chest, shooting a teasing look at the older man, "That's for me to know, and you to not report back to your wife."

Paul let out a chuckle, before sighing, "Well Miss Winters, I hope you settle in here well. You'll just be sitting in with the creative team that's here for now until we open up NXT Wrestling and then from there, you'll be a part of that writing team." He paused, looking to his side to see the excited look in Zoe's eyes, "And then, you'll be expected to have something for us to work with and integrate onto Raw."

"Anything I want?"

The WWE COO spluttered for words, "No! Not anything you want!" He groaned at the cheeky look on Zoe's face and he rubbed a hand over his tired face, "I'm getting too old for this. You and your cousin are exactly the same with your shit stirring."

"How is he?"

Paul Levesque barely heard the question amongst the noise that had filled the FCW arena, "He?"

"John."

"He's fine. Keeps dropping hints to us about rehiring you.. Little does he know." He paused, taking a deep breath, "Zoe, are you sure you don't want me to say anything to him? He looks really worried most of the time. The rest of them are always talking about you and if anyone's gotten in contact with you."

Her fingers tangled around each other nervously, and Zoe took a deep breath to calm herself down, "I just need more time. I hope you understand."

He rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently, "Zoe, you're fine. If that's what you want, then I totally understand and I can assure you my lips are sealed." He glanced over to the ring and rolled his eyes at the sight before him, "Jesus Christ.. Ambrose, the show has ended. Is there a reason why you're still acting like a deranged lunatic?"

As Dean Ambrose untangled himself from the headlock he had Big E Langston in, Paul waved the young wrestler over to where him and Zoe were sitting so they could be introduced. "Dean, this is Zoe Winters. She's a new writer that we will be having when NXT starts."

"Ah, the klutz."

Paul's eyes widened and he spluttered for words to reprimand the young wrestler, but Zoe cut in and grinned at the wrestler standing before her. She stuck out her hand for him to shake, "I'd like to say you caught me on a bad day, but that was actually a good day for me. Nice to finally put a name to the face."

The COO glanced between the two of them, "You've met?"

"Bumped into him one day during Wrestlemania week."

Paul released a sigh, "And here I was thinking it was worse than that."

Dean held a hand over his heart, a pout on his face, "You think so little of me, Paul?"

"You don't have the best track record, Ambrose. Don't even get me started as to what happened that Wrestlemania weekend."

Zoe couldn't help but notice the dark look that was now on Dean Ambrose's face. She glanced between the two men who were staring down at each other and she raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"

And within an instant, Dean's face broke into a smirk and he faced Zoe, "Nothing for you to worry about, Sunshine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go terrorise Big E again. See you around, Zoe."

As the wrestler walked off, Zoe glanced at Paul, "Everything alright?"

"Remember when I said he's just as good on the mic as Punk? Ask Mick Foley for his opinion about it."

Zoe's eyes turned back to the ring where she watched a group of wrestlers work through some moves and she frowned. Clearly, drama wasn't just attached to Raw and Smackdown. It stemmed all the way down to the developmental territory. She sighed, hugging the notepad to her chest as she realised she had to be just as careful down here as she was back travelling with Raw.

* * *

><p><span>29th April, 2012<span>

The fact that she woke up in the morning feeling sick gave Zoe enough anxiety about the day. She'd been in Florida for two weeks now and had been enjoying her time here. It was a bit lonely as she was still new to the FCW family but she liked the downtime that she had in between the tapings on Sundays. During the week, there were training sessions she attended and also small live shows that weren't being shown on television. The young Boston girl had heard through the grapevine that Extreme Rules was on that same night and she couldn't help but think that her anxiety was due to this PPV. She avoided anything Raw and Smackdown related for a month now and even as she sat in the crowd for the FCW taping, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on in the PPV.

She tried to keep her mind from wandering as she watched the match between James Bronson and Nick Rogers. The match ended and Bronson cut a promo on Regal, which caused an all out brawl with Garrett Dylan and Dean Ambrose joining the fight. Zoe's face lit up in amusement as both Regal and Dean slapped on Regal Stretches onto the other two men. Paul Levesque had been right when he said Dean had something and Zoe wrote down some more notes on him, ideas springing to her mind about possible Raw debuts for him. Finally it was the main event and Zoe was particularly interested in it as she was finally seeing the Champion in action. The Florida Heavyweight Champion was Seth Rollins and he was up against Kassius Ohno. Her hand ached in protest but she continued writing, completely entranced with the performance in front of her. These two men deserved to be on Raw and Zoe was having a hard time understanding what was taking the WWE so long to push these guys to the main roster.

The FCW taping finally ended and the fans had shuffled out of the arena, leaving Zoe there to grab a few more moments of writing notes in the quiet of the arena. Grabbing her bag, she shoved her notepad in and slung the bag over her shoulder and made her way out into the back carpark where the talent and staff parked. Her mind was going a million miles an hour thinking of stories for these men, that she didn't notice her phone was ringing. Snapping out of her daze, she grabbed the phone out of her pocket, not even bothering to check the id and she answered it.

"Hello?"

"About time."

Zoe froze, her steps faltering as she came to a stop in the middle of the brightly lit car park. Now, she understood that sick feeling this morning. Her free hand clutched at the strap of her bag and she pressed the phone tightly to her ear, "Punk.."

"You didn't check your caller ID, did you?"

"I was a bit distracted."

Punk sighed audibly through the phone, "How are you?"

Zoe frowned, "Did you really call me to ask how am I?"

"Well, no one has heard from you in a month so yeah, excuse me for asking how you are."

"I'm fine," snapped Zoe, rolling her eyes at the tone of the WWE Champion, "How are you?"

"Tired. Sore. I just won my match at Extreme Rules."

"Congratulations."

Punk paused, realising she had no idea, "You haven't watched in weeks, have you?"

"I was fired, Punk. The last thing I'm going to do is watch my former work."

"Well, we're still on tv. You could still watch for us."

Zoe snorted, "Watch for the people that don't trust me? Yeah sure, Punk, I'll get right on it."

Punk groaned, "Zoe, Jesus, we're sorry! I'm sorry! It was the heat of the moment! Ok, we thought the worst but can you blame us?"

"Are you kidding?!" exclaimed Zoe, forgetting where she was but she couldn't care less. Too much anger was coursing through her right now and she was going to tell him how it was, "My cousin. My friends. My boyfriend. All of you turned to me like I was the one that had ruined your live. One girl against all of you. How do you think that made me feel, Punk? You were all so full of shit with your 'Oh we will still be your friends'. Get real, you guys blamed me the second everything went down."

"And we apologised! So get the fuck over it!"

Her heart stilled at the words and she shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears, "No, I will not get the fuck over it. It was too much all at once and it hurt me-"

Punk tried to calm his anger down, the emotions from his match still coursing through his veins, "Zoe, I didn't mean to snap. I'm sorry. Please, just tell me where you are. I want to see you."

"No."

"Zo-"

"You broke my heart!"

It was Punk's turn to freeze at the words from his ex-girlfriend. His eyes fluttered shut and he remained silent for a moment, "Zoe, please-"

"Just leave me alone, please." Zoe slammed her hands against the phone, ending the call and threw the phone into her bag. Her body shook with staggering breaths as she realised she was getting too anxious. Cursing herself, she saw her car nearby and tried to make her way there before her vision went. She was within reach of her car before realising a pair of arms grabbed her forearms, whilst another set gripped her waist, holding her upright and she struggled against the hold.

"Woah, girl! Just calm down! Take some deep breaths. C'mon, we got you."

Zoe stopped her struggle, realising the voice was familiar and she started to breathe slower, relaxing in the hold the two men had her in. She finally got her breath and vision back and blinked at the man in front of her, a concerned look on his face, "Thanks."

Seth Rollins smiled slightly at the young woman, before nodding at the man behind her. Dean Ambrose released her waist and stepped around her to stand beside Seth. The FCW Champion continued to look concerned, "Are you okay, Miss?"

"Zoe. I'm Zoe."

His smile widened a bit more, "You ok, Zoe?"

"I'm fine now, thank you both."

"Does that happen often?"

Zoe shrugged, embarrassed, "It's a symptom of working for the WWE."

Dean chuckled, "You could have worse symptoms."

She shot a thankful smile at them both, "Lucky me. But thank you boys, I really appreciate it." She turned to the car, her hand reaching into her bag for the keys. Her search ceased when she heard Seth speak.

"Hey, do you want to grab a bite with us?"

Zoe raised a dark eyebrow, a small disbelieving laugh leaving her lips, "You don't even know me."

"You're the new writer."

At Zoe's even more pronounced raised eyebrow, Dean Ambrose cut in, "He's just trying to suck up to you."

Seth Rollins looked appalled and gaped at his friend, "Dude, I am not!" He turned back to Zoe, "I can assure you that I'm not sucking up. I just want to make sure that you're alright."

A smile lit up Zoe's face as she watched the two young men bicker in front of her and she shook her head, laughing at the bizarre situation. Only moments before had she'd been sick over one phonecall and now she was being asked for a late night meal with two men she worked with. She chewed her lip, thinking about his question. If she didn't join them, she was just going to go home and end up worrying about the phone call from Punk. Glancing at the duo, who had now managed to get in some sort of tussle, she laughed, shaking her head at what she was about to do.

"So where's anywhere good to eat around here?"

* * *

><p><span>18th November, 2012<span>

"Guys, that was amazing!"

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins shared a grin over the top of Zoe Winter's head, as she looped her arms around their necks. The two NXT wrestlers wrapped an arm around her waist, hoisting her up in the air and spun her around, their laughter echoing in the car park of the arena. The duo, along with Roman Reigns, had just debuted in the WWE during the Survivor Series event and they had made quite the impact. They placed Zoe back on the ground but she still kept her arms across their backs, hugging them to her. Seth grinned, his arm tightening around her waist, "Honestly, did you ever doubt us?"

Zoe laughed, her smile broadening, "Not even for a second." She untangled herself from the two men and unlocked the car, helping Roman place their bags in the trunk of the car. Spinning around, she laughed as Seth bounced around Dean, his two toned hair and arms flailing everywhere much to the unamused look on Dean's face. "Oh Jesus, Seth, calm down!"

He bounced over to Roman, leaping onto the Samoan's back, "We were on a fucking pay-per-view!"

His enthusiasm was contagious and Zoe caught Dean's face break into a large smile at the young man's antics. She smiled, watching as Roman tried to disloadge Seth from his back and she shook her head at the scene before her. Her eyes widened as Seth grabbed her, tugging her into a tight hug, his chin resting on the top of her head, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." His words were mumbled against her dark hair but Zoe understood them perfectly, and she wrapped her own arms around him, hugging him tightly as well. While a part of her was so happy for these three men, she couldn't help but feel a bitter feeling linger in the back of her mind that she didn't want history to repeat itself. Especially with these three boys who had managed to sneak into her life and make her find a new lease on life after the Wrestlemania drama at the beginning of the year. She smiled as Seth released her and she quickly raced Dean around the side of the car to get shotgun. Her laughter echoed through the car park again as Dean tossed her in the back seat, his own chuckle joining with hers.

Dean took charge of the radio, pushing Seth back into his seat as the NXT Champion tried to make his way through the middle console to play with the radio. As Roman pulled out of the parking lot, Dean glanced at the dark haired girl through the rear view mirror, "So where's anywhere good to eat around here?"

Zoe rolled her eyes in jest at the wink he sent her, the familiar words caused a small smile to curl her lips as she glanced out the window at the city of Indianapolis. Roman's deep voice broke her thoughts, "Dude, room service and reruns of our amazing debut."

The Boston native looked heavenward as the boys broke out in cheers, highfiving each other at Roman's idea, "Oh dear god, I've created monsters."

* * *

><p><span>19th November, 2012<span>

"She's the one behind all this, isn't she?"

Paul Levesque was doing a good job of looking completely clueless as a group of Superstars and Divas incessantly stalked him through the arena on Monday night. Raw was officially underway and much to his chagrin, CM Punk was leading a pack of wrestlers on a man hunt to find out who exactly was behind the three NXT wrestlers that had debuted the other night. Paul had to give it to them, they had caught on quickly. "Who is she?"

CM Punk glared at the former World Champion, "Don't play dumb with me, Paul. You know who. Zoe. Zoe Winters. She's the one that brought these guys here, isn't she?"

"Was Wrestlemania just a set up? Did she honestly know all along your plans and it was just a way to cover her leaving?"

"Was she in Florida this whole time?"

"And what the hell are those guys doing? What are they doing tonight?"

"Why all the secrecy?"

The WWE COO could feel a headache coming on and he cursed himself for not preparing himself for this onslaught of questions by his employees, "Guys!" he yelled, startling the group standing before him. "You all need to relax. I have no idea what you are on about and I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop speculating and causing rumours to fly about. Now, I'm pretty sure you all have matches and segments to prepare for. So now, go and prepare for your matches." He spun back on his heel and came face to face with his wife, a sigh escaping him as soon as he saw her, "Oh thank god, do you have an aspirin?"

Stephanie looked amused at the exasperated look on her husband's face, "You know they didn't listen to you, right?"

"When have I ever listened to you guys?"

Paul groaned, turning back around to face the WWE Champion CM Punk, John Cena, Mike Mizanin, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Lee and Beth Phoenix. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be getting jumped by AJ in the ring soon," said Paul, pointing at John Cena.

The Boston native remained in front of the COO, "That I am, but first, we want answers. Particularly, what you have planned for those three men tonight?"

Stephanie stepped closer to her husband's side, her dark eyes regarding the men standing before her, "You have to trust us that tonight we have a good plan for those men."

"I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you, Stephanie."

The bitter words spat at the youngest McMahon child only made her lips curl into a smirk, "Do you not remember sabotaging the show last year? If anyone shouldn't be trusted, it's you."

CM Punk folded his arms across his chest, his title belt slung across his shoulder, "Are they going to interrupt my party tonight?"

"Are you ever going to not think that the world is out to get you?"

The Straight-Edge Superstar rolled his eyes, "Based on past history, I'd like to think that it's the company out to get me, not the entire world. I don't appreciate being booked as weak."

Paul shook his head, "You're not being booked as weak, so calm down. Now, I suggest you all take a few moments and calm down and just get on with the show. We have more pressing matters to attend to." He gripped his wife's elbow and steered her away from the group of wrestlers. Once they were a safe distance away from them, Paul eyed her from the corner of his eyes, "They're onto us."

Stephanie patted his arm gently, a sigh escaping her lips, "We couldn't keep it a secret much longer, honey. They were going to eventually see her."

"I think they already did."

"Whether they did or they didn't, she's backstage tonight and it will eventually get out."

Paul ran a hand through his hair. He and his wife still held a soft spot for the young cousin of John Cena and they were protective of her, considering what had happened after Wrestlemania. He knew that his wife was trying everything to make it up to the young girl for ruining part of her life all those months ago and she had done everything she could to protect her from the employees until now. He knew his wife was right. Eventually, it was going to get out and he had a bad feeling it was going to be tonight. He tugged his wife closer to his side, an arm wrapping around her waist, "I can't even imagine the fireworks that are going to explode backstage tonight."

Stephanie chewed her lip, nervously, "Neither can I, but we need to be there for her. We owe it to her."

* * *

><p>"CM Punk. Your WWE Champion survived Survivor Series and cemented his legacy-"<p>

The words of the WWE Champion during his celebration of a year long reign were cut off as Ryback's music blared throught the arena. CM Punk readied himself in the ring, waiting for the onslaught but his jaw dropped as Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns once again appeared from the crowd and jumped the larger man known as Ryback. Punk felt Paul grab his arm and pull him aside as the trio brawled with Ryback into the ring and then eventually out of the ring. Punk could only watch as Michael Cole and King moved from the announce table. The three men lifted Ryback again and delivered a vicious triple powerbomb to him, before turning to look expectantly at Punk. The WWE Champion had no idea what to do. No one had told him anything and he decided to just roll with. Clad in his 'I'm a Paul Heyman Guy' shirt and wrestling gear, he exited the ring as the three NXT wrestlers vacated the area and crouched down over Ryback. He eventually rose and lifted his arms in the air, screaming "Best in the World."

But deep down, he felt anything but that.

* * *

><p>"Trust you? Trust you, she said. It will be fine, she said. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"<p>

Mike Mizanin and John Cena ran interference on the seething WWE Champion and held him back from launching himself at Paul and Stephanie. Paul looked heavenward, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Are you going to be irate everytime you come backstage?"

"I have a goddamn reason to be irate. That was my year long reign. I'm supposed to be the best in the world and instead, I got three monkeys coming out and beating the crap out of the number 1 contender for me."

"I have to agree with him there. He's supposed to be going up against your friend, Dwayne," The name was still bitter on John Cena's tongue as he held his angry best friend back, "You can't be pulling stunts like this and making him look weak before he's supposed to fight the Rock."

Stephanie held up her hand in an attempt to silence the chaos happening around her in the backstage area, "This isn't made to make him look weak. We are trying to improve your heel character. They will be not just attacking your opponents but other people's opponents. They've got a certain role now in the WWE, similar to the Nexus."

"That doesn't reassure me at all," quipped Mike as he passed his holding duties to Dolph Ziggler, who kept a firm grip now on Punk. "Why all the secrecy? You know that doesn't create a good atmosphere back here when we know you guys are screwing us around."

Paul shot a glare at the Miz, "We are not screwing anyone. And we needed it on the downlow because we didn't want it leaking. We've had too many debuts ruined due to leaks." He sent another pointed look to the group of men before him, "And I thought you guys were all for promoting new talent. What the hell happened?"

"I'm all for promoting it but not at my expense."

"You whistled a different tune when you were down at NXT in August."

CM Punk spun around to find the three NXT wrestlers, still clad in their black protective gear. He rolled his eyes at the trio, "Like I said, if you weren't making me look so weak, I wouldn't care what you did. But you're making me look shit."

Seth chuckled, "Boy, you are a bitter man. Is being the top man not good enough for you, Punk?"

Dean smirked, "Do your collector cups, your programs and your title not make you happy, Punk?"

The two toned man grinned at his friend, noting the darkening look on CM Punk's face, "You used to be every kid in NXT and FCW's hero. And now you're nothing more than a glory hunter."

The familiar words made Punk freeze and he stared at the three men, "What did you just say to me?"

"You're a glory hunter, Punk. Always have and always will be."

The new voice startled all those gathered in the backstage area, and jaws collectively dropped as Zoe Winters appeared from the corridor behind the NXT boys. John Cena gaped at his cousin, "Zoe!" He didn't even make a move towards her. He had no idea what to do. A part of him was relieved to see his cousin but a large part of him was angry she had taken off, and he was not liking the looks of things. It was starting to add up that Zoe was part of something with the McMahons. "Jesus, Zo', where the fuck have you been?"

Stephanie cut in, "She's been working in Florida with FCW and now NXT. We sent her out there to scout some new talent."

Dolph frowned, "You were fired. We all saw!"

"For all of an hour," explained Zoe, brushing her dark hair from her face, "I've been in Florida working with the developmental talent down there."

"And these are your guys?" asked Mike, shooting a hesitant glance at Dean, Seth and Roman.

Zoe nodded, a wry smile curling her lips, "I had to choose people to come up. It was a hard decision but these guys are worth it."

There was a moment of silence before AJ's soft voice broke it, "Why didn't you call?"

The young Creative writer laughed bitterly, "I didn't trust myself to have a conversation with you all that ended nicely. I still don't even see it ending well now. You guys blamed me for everything that happened-" She held up a hand as various voices tried to talk at once, "Don't start. I'm really not in the mood right now and I have business to attend to."

John Cena couldn't help but notice the change in his cousin. Whilst physically, she looked the exact same, he knew that deep down, she had not completely recovered from what happened. He glanced over at Punk and saw the stormy look in his eyes and immediately knew they needed to get out of there before he exploded. He knew his best friend was a hot head and even worse, his cousin was just as bad. He had seen first hand the punch she threw that fateful day last year and judging by the change in her, he wouldn't be surprised if she did it again. Grabbing Punk's arm, "Look, we'll just go. But, we will be speaking sometime soon, Zo'. You're my family. You're our family."

Zoe pushed her tongue into her cheek, debating over the decision to outright refuse her cousin. But truth be told, he was right. He was family and as much of a jerk as they'd all been, she'd missed them a little bit during her time away. She nodded her head, her arms folded across her chest, "Fine. I'll call you."

CM Punk watched as the three NXT men stepped closer to Zoe, Seth's hand reaching out to wrap around her shoulders and a smirk grew across the lips of the WWE Champion. He shook his head, a bitter laugh leaving his lips.

"Problem?" asked Roman, his eyes narrowed at the man.

"Good luck with her. Whether you sleep with her or not, she'll still end up screwing you one way or another."

John Cena should've taken bets on whether his friend would be a dickhead and cause Zoe to punch him. Because within seconds of his statement, one angry Boston girl lunged forward and threw a punch, much worse than the one she threw over a year ago. As he pulled Punk away, shaking his head at his friend's words, he realised that everything was back to the chaos it was just like before.

* * *

><p>AN: I shall now cower behind a chair in fear of reviews at the way Punk, John and Co. acted! Let me know what you think :)


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars in this story, only the OC Characters and my story idea.

A/N: Apologies for the wait! Hope you enjoy this one! It's not too long and is a bit of a filler but sets up some saga a bit :) Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>3rd June, 2012<span>

"So word is that you're the new writer."

Zoe glanced up from her iPad to raise an eyebrow at the man standing before her, "That would be correct." She stuck out her hand for him to shake, "Zoe Winters."

He glanced at her offered hand warily and shook it briefly, "Bo Dallas."

Zoe knew exactly who he was. She couldn't decide who had the bigger ego, him or Kassius Ohno. Whilst she wasn't involved with the storylines on FCW directly, she had noticed that the small push the two had been gaining was causing some ego issues with them. The previous week, Bo Dallas had been in the main event with Seth Rollins, and while Seth had won, they had put on quite the match. She tried to smile sweetly at him, wondering what on earth he wanted with her, "Can I help you with anything?"

He ran a hand through his dark hair, a smirk on his face, "I was just wondering what your plans are with me."

She raised an eyebrow, unsure of what he was referring to, "My plans with you?"

"Well, I know I lost to Rollins, but we did put on a good match. So I was hoping for another opportunity-"

Zoe interrupted him, finally understanding, "Oh that I don't deny. You guys had an amazing match, however, you're talking to the wrong person. I'm not going to be a part of the team until August when the NXT show officially starts."

Bo shook his head, "No, that's what I meant. NXT is going to be broadcast for the world and I want to know where I stand to be on that show."

She furrowed her brow, "Look, Bo, it's quite a while away. I'll keep you in mind but just relax, everyone is going to be showcased on the new show."

"Is there anything I can do to help that situation?"

Zoe blinked, "Excuse me?"

Bo's smirk made Zoe feel uneasy and she curled up slightly in her seat in the stands. She was sitting there working on some ideas for different FCW wrestlers before the show started and Bo was towering over her, cornering her to her seat. While he may be slightly younger than the writer, Zoe still felt uneasy sitting there alone with him, "Well, Rollins and Ambrose seem to be getting in your pants to win their spots for the new show. I heard that's how you roll."

Her body stilled at the familiar thought that was once expressed by the Rock when she worked on Raw. She moved quickly, grabbing her iPad and bag, standing to make a move but Bo's arm stopped her and she tried to shrug it off, "Leave me alone."

"Oh c'mon, I heard wrestlers are your type!"

Zoe spun around, her eyes wide as she stared at the wrestler. There was no way he knew. The main roster was so detached from the developmental talent that there was a very small chance they knew about her and Punk. And considering they had only been officially together for a little over three months, she knew their relationship wouldn't have spread far. Or would it? She could feel her breathing rate increase and her heart pounded in her chest. She made sure that Paul kept her past work at Raw quiet and she wanted a clean slate, but obviously it wasn't going to be the case. She tried to tug her arm out of Bo's grip, her eyes slowly starting to lose vision as the anxiety attack progressed. Within seconds, she heard two distinct male voices yell out her name and she closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

"Get the fuck off of her, Dallas!"

She felt Bo's grip loosen and she was bundled up against a warm chest, her head tucked into the crook of someone's neck. Two arms wrapped around her tightly, trying to hold her upright and calm her down. Zoe felt the same man's lips press against her head, just above her ear, and he mumbled against her dark hair, "C'mon, Zo'. Just breathe! C'mon, you're going to be fine. We got you."

Zoe blinked her dark eyes repeatedly, her breathing slowing down as she watched Dean Ambrose push Bo Dallas around. She shook her head, trying to move out of Seth Rollin's arms, but he only held her tightly, "Dean!" Her voice was timid and she tried again, her throat dry, "Dean! Stop it!"

Dean glared at Bo, his face twisted into a scowl, "You get off pushing women around, Bo?"

"I was just asking her a favour. Nothing different to what you guys do."

The dark blonde stepped closer to Bo, ignoring Zoe's yell for him to stop, "We take her out for goddamn dinner once a fucking week. We are just friends and I know that I work hard enough to get where I am today. And you should follow that same rule." He pushed Bo back again, his eyes never leaving Bo's face, "You don't go near her again, do you hear me?"

As Bo disappeared, Dean was startled by a small hand resting against his arm, and he turned to see Zoe standing there, her face slowly gaining some colour back after her near fainting episode, "Dean, you didn't have to do that."

He shrugged, shoving his hands into his grey trackpants, "Guys like that need to know when they've gone too far." He frowned at her still worried expression, "Speaking of which, what did he say to you?"

Zoe chewed her lip, "He just wanted to know what he could do to earn a better spot on the NXT roster."

Seth snorted, "Pretty much pimped himself out."

Dean chuckled, running a hand through his messy hair, "What a fucking idiot." He glanced at the clock on the wall, "Anyway, we need to get ready for the show. We get to have some promo fun, Rollins."

The dark haired man grinned, "Excellent." He turned to Zoe, a concerned look on his face, "You'll be okay? We still good for dinner after?"

Bo's words were running through her head and Zoe knew not to listen to them, but they were overpowering and she shook her head, rejecting Seth's offer, "I can't. Not tonight."

Seth frowned, "Is it because of Bo?" At Zoe's hesitant look, he sighed, reaching forward to wrap an arm around her shoulder and tugging her to his side. Zoe didn't know what it was, but for all the macho bravado Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose seemed to portray, behind the scenes, they were a bunch of softies. Within weeks of knowing the young wrestlers, Seth had already found it acceptable to cuddle her every so often, much to Zoe's amusement. Not that she was complaining. But right now, she stiffened against his side, and tried to refrain from looking at him as he gave her the puppy dog eyes. "Zoe, c'mon. Look, if it makes you feel better. The guys want to do some schoolyard bullshit in the ring tonight after the show. So we can order pizzas and we will stay in, and you can meet everyone properly."

Zoe sighed, listening to the offer, "Alright, as long as there's a lot of us here. I don't want anyone else to think badly of me."

Dean chuckled, "Taking you out for dinner each week was not our way of trying to get in your skirt."

"And here I thought that's what you boys were doing all along."

"Was it working?"

She laughed at the wink Dean sent her and she shooed them off to get ready for the show, her laugh growing louder as Seth slapped Dean on the head for being a seedy friend. With her mood suddenly in a better place, she took her seat again, her mind ready to take notes for the show and complete her original job of finding the perfect wrestlers to send to Raw.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Zoe was stuffed with pizza and her sides were sore from laughing at the comedy unfolding in the ring. Big E Langston was slowly becoming one of her favourites. The very large athlete was a natural comedian, and his deadpan delivery of some phrases set Zoe off into peals of laughter. Grinning as Corey Graves flung himself off the ropes onto Seth Rollins, she clapped as Big E decided to play the slowest referee and turn a 3 count into a ten count for the pin. She took another bite of her pizza slice, her eyes turning to glance at Dean as he took a seat next to her, an exhausted look on his face. She smiled at him, reaching over to brush his hair out of his eyes and he winked at her, "Knew you liked me, Sunshine."<p>

Zoe rolled her eyes, a habit she had now developed because of hanging out with Dean and Seth. She took another bite of pizza, chewing it quickly, "I'm starting to like Seth more."

"Bitch."

Zoe laughed, her attention back to the ring as from out of nowhere, a tall Samoan speared Corey, the young tattooed wrestler's body looking like it snapped in half. She gasped, her eyes wide as the other cheered, tackling the new wrestler, obviously recognising him. She looked at Dean, questionably, "Who was that?"

"Roman Reigns."

The young writer looked intrigued by the newcomer. She was in awe of his size and strength, and not to mention the spear that almost broke Corey in half. A smile curled her lips as she appreciated exactly how Roman Reigns actually looked, "I would kill for hair like that."

Dean looked at her, an eyebrow raised as he compared her long dark hair to Roman's long dark hair. He shook his head with a groan, "I will never understand women." His eyebrows raised higher, almost disappearing into his hairline as Zoe pulled her iPad out of her bag to take some notes, "Sunshine, work time is over."

"Shut up, I have an idea."

"I don't like when you smile like that. Last time you did that, you and Seth swapped my coffee for decaf."

Without looking up from her iPad, Zoe responded, "You are such a drama queen."

"I almost died."

She snorted, "Alright, I'm done. Are you happy?"

He looked at her curiously, "You're going to a lot of effort for a weekly show about developmental talent."

"It's not just about that. It's about-" She paused, her eyes widening as she realised what she had almost said. Paul Levesque had her on strict instructions that she was not to mentio the other reason she was in Florida. None of the FCW talent knew that she was also a scout for a new storyline for Raw. There was enough pressure as it was and she didn't need people using her to make their way to the main roster. She'd been through that before, she thought bitterly. Smiling sheepishly at Dean, "It's about the future."

He looked incredulously at her, "The future."

"Yes."

"You're hiding something."

"Don't push it."

As Zoe turned back to watch the action in the ring, Dean leaned back in his seat, his eyes never leaving Zoe. He couldn't quite work out the young Boston native and he was pretty sure there was a lot more to her than just a young creative writer from Boston. He was lying when he said he hadn't overheard what Bo had said to her, and judging by her reaction, Bo was slightly on the mark with his accusations about her and wrestlers. Shaking his head, he decided that eventually he'd find out. But for now, he was concentrating on being NXT's new star and maybe later, he will work out the puzzle that was Zoe Winters.

* * *

><p><span>18th November, 2012<span>

"I can't decide if I'm turned on or pissed off."

"I'd say both. You're pissed off at Brooks for being an asshole and you're turned on because this bitch just threw a punch at him like a pro!" Seth paused, tilting his head slightly as he thought more about it, "Definitely more turned on than pissed off."

Dean Ambrose nodded, "Agreed."

Roman Reigns snorted at the antics of his two stable mates and turned his attention back to Zoe Winters. He had the task of wrapping up Zoe's hand, which she'd managed to bust open when connecting with her former boyfriend's face. He could see the wry smile curling her lips slightly and he smiled, realising Dean and Seth's antics were just to cheer her up. His large hand squeezed her smaller hand reassuringly and he winked at her when she turned her eyes to him, "You picked some keepers here, didn't you?"

Zoe's eyes flickered over to where Dean and Seth were both sprawled out on each end of the couch in Stephanie McMahon's office and she chewed her lip, trying to hold back a laugh, "My track record with guys hasn't been the best as you have just witnessed."

"He's a prick."

The young writer blinked at Roman, not used to the language that was usually reserved for use by Rollins and Ambrose. She reached her free hand over to push Roman's shoulder playfully, "Now you're getting rude like them."

"It's the truth."

Zoe shook her head, her eyes filling with angry tears, "Not now, Roman, please."

The Samoan noticed the tears as he finished wrapping her hand and he inwardly berated himself for having made her cry. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer to his side, her face pressed against his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Zo'."

She nodded against his shoulder, a hand reaching up to wipe a stray tear that had fallen. Her head spun to the left when she heard the office door open and Stephanie and Paul came through to talk to them. Paul sighed, running a hand over his tired face as he took a seat on the edge of his wife's desk. "Well, welcome back Zoe. Glad to see the cavalry welcomed you back with open arms."

Zoe shrugged, "I had a feeling that would happen."

Stephanie stepped forward, taking a seat next to Zoe, "I'm so sorry. I wish we could've stopped it."

Zoe waved a hand, "It's fine. I expected worse."

The youngest McMahon child raised an eyebrow, gesturing to her injured hand, "Worse than breaking your hand open knocking out your ex-boyfriend?"

"This was the only good part."

Paul chuckled, shaking his head, "We've definitely missed having you around here, Zoe." He looked at the men sprawled across the couch, "You've made an excellent choice."

"I agree!"

Zoe laughed at Seth's outburst, his fist raised in the air in agreement with his words. She shook her head, "Please excuse him. He's high on Raw debut fever."

"Well they did make quite the impact," said Stephanie. She folded her hands on her lap, "We wanted to talk to you about taking more work on, but judging by today's reaction from some of the talent, it's probably best you stick with these guys."

Zoe nodded, some of her dark hair falling into her eyes. She pushed it back gently, her face tired from the emotions of the night, "I was going to ask you that anyway. I'd really like to just stick with the Shield for now and eventually move into other work."

"The Shield?"

Seth raised his hand from the couch, his other arm flung over his eyes in exhaustion, "My idea!"

Paul raised an eyebrow at Zoe, "The Shield?"

Roman chuckled, "Trust me. Yesterday it was the 3 Amigos. The Shield was the best of any suggestions." He looked at Zoe as she yawned tiredly, and he patted her back, gesturing for her to get up, "I think we better head off. Most of the others would've cleared off by now, wouldn't they?"

Stephanie knew what he was referring to and she nodded her head, letting him know that they were alright to leave without running into too much risk of seeing the others. She smiled fondly as the three men huddled around Zoe as they left the office, offering her a small bit of protection. Paul noticed his wife's smile and he looked at her, curiously, "What?"

"Things are going to get interesting around here again."

Paul groaned, flopping down onto the now vacated couch, "I am too old for this shit."

* * *

><p>"Don't bite me!"<p>

Zoe grinned, removing her mouth from Dean's arm as the two battled for the passenger seat of the rental car. Whilst in their battle, neither noticed that Seth had slid into the backseat and over the console into the passenger seat. A rap of his knuckles against the window startled them and the two glared at the young wrestler, who merely beamed back at them. Zoe glared at Dean, "Your fault."

Dean rolled his eyes, reaching for the back door to swing open to let the two of them in, "If you would just cooperate, none of this would've happened." The Boston native had stopped listening to Dean, her eyes intent on watching the scene playing out just over Dean's shoulder. The former CZW wrestler waved a hand in front of her face, before turning around to see what she was looking at and he frowned, "Is that-"

"My cousin John? Yeah it is."

"And is that?"

"Nikki Bella." She shook her head, "His divorce better have been finalised otherwise he's no better than Liz." She slid into the car, the scene of John and Nikki kissing replaying in her mind. When Zoe had left all those months ago, she was sure that John was only just separating from Liz. But now, so soon later, he had someone else. Someone else who Zoe just remembered, was the girlfriend of Dolph Ziggler. She shook her head. Looks like her cousin had more explaining to do than she did.

* * *

><p><span>26th November, 2012<span>

"Where are your sweaters?"

"It was too damn fucking hot," mumbled Dean Ambrose, taking a drag from the cigarette that he'd somehow managed to get away with smoking backstage. Zoe rolled her eyes, making a grab for the cigarette and throwing it to the ground, "What the fuck?"

"Smoking kills."

"You're going to kill me soon enough, Sunshine."

Zoe rolled her eyes again, before her eyes roamed over the three men that stood before her in their new attire. Instead of the sweaters that they had debuted in, Dean and Seth were wearing protective vests over skin tight t-shirts and Roman was just wearing the vest. As her eyes wandered appreciatively over the new showing of skin, Seth shared an amused look with Dean and Roman, "You alright there, Zoe?"

The young writer's head snapped up, her eyes wide at the realisation she'd been caught oggling her three friends. She smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm alright."

"If you want us to take our clothes off, you can just ask,"

Roman's booming laugh echoed through the corridor while Seth shook with glee, his body struggling to contain the laughter waiting to erupt. Zoe looked momentarily appalled at Dean's comment before reaching over and smacking his arm, "You are such a pig."

He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, "A sexy pig."

"How you've stayed single for so long, Dean, I will never know."

"It's because you keep scaring off my potential girlfriends."

"I think you scare them off yourself, Dean."

Dean narrowed his eyes at his team mate, "Whose side are you on, Seth?"

Seth only grinned at him before Dean lunged at him, grabbing the younger man in a headlock. Roman shared a look with Zoe, shaking his head. He paused, noticing someone standing nearby and he nodded his head towards Zoe. Zoe turned, her eyes settling on the large form of her cousin, John Cena. With a sigh, she headed towards him, a reassuring smile sent back over her shoulder to Roman. She stopped infront of John, her arms folded across her chest. It had been a week since the Shield had debuted on Raw and Zoe had punched Punk square in the face. Her cousin had contacted her several times, but she hadn't been ready to pick up the phone, especially after seeing him with one of the Bella twins. Now finally, they were face to face.

John ran a hand over his close-shaven head, "I've called you several times."

"I know."

"You didn't pick up."

"I know."

John's patience was wearing thin, "Dammit Zoe, we said we were sorry. How many times do we have to apologise?"

Zoe tightened her folded arms against her chest, "I know you're sorry but there's this thing called give me time-"

"You've had since April," snapped John.

"Sometimes people need more time before they can move on."

The way she was looking at him made John uneasy and he tilted his head, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Zoe clicked her tongue against her teeth, "How's Liz?"

"Fine. Divorce was finalised in June."

"How's Nikki?"

"Fine."

"Does Ziggler know?"

John looked incredulously at her, wondering why she would think so little of him, "Yeah of course, he does. They broke up a few weeks after you left." He watched her face change and he shook his head, "They broke up because of you, Zoe-"

Zoe scoffed, "Oh c'mon!"

John's patience was officially gone and he yelled at his younger cousin, his face red with anger, "They broke up because she took your side. She ripped into all of us for treating you the way we did, so stop thinking she's some gold digger who pounced at the opportunity to be with me. She didn't even talk to me or the others for a few months because she was so angry with what we did!" He could tell that people were gathering around to watch the exchange but he couldn't control it any longer. For months, his backstage family had been picking up the pieces since that Wrestlemania and Raw. For months, he'd been trying to figure out his own life and now he had his cousin back to finalise it all, but she wasn't the same and he wanted her back, just how she was before. Not the bitter woman that stood before him. He growled at his cousin, "You need to get over yourself and realise that some of us are just dying to have you back in our lives and apologise for everything. We know we were wrong but you've taken this too far. I can only apologise so many times, Zoe. You're my baby cousin and I love you. I just want you back."

He didn't even wait for a reply before he disappeared down the hallway. He didn't get to see the upset look that now covered Zoe's face. Tears threatened to fall but Zoe knew she had a show and three men to help, so she took a deep breath, ignoring the stares of her co-workers. She turned around to face the Shield, her eyes landing on three concerned looks. Seth stepped forward, wrapping her up in his arms, his head resting on top of hers, "Zoe, c'mon..."

"Ambrose. Rollins. Reigns."

As if Zoe's night couldn't get more dramatic, CM Punk stood behind them, his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face, watching the interaction in front of him. His blood was boiling at the hug that Zoe was slipping out of and he tried to control his emotions when dealing with the three men.

"What do you want, Punk?"

Punk smirked at Dean, "I want to go over tonight. You do not interfere in my match with Kane. You only beat down on him after. I'm getting the win cleanly." He cast a glance at all three men, "People need to believe I'm still a strong champion, since you three have ruined that illusion."

"Just on the boss's orders," snapped Roman, glaring at the older man.

"A bitter ex-girlfriend out for revenge doesn't make for a good boss. Just wait till she's through with you-"

"She's right here," snapped Zoe, glaring at her former boyfriend, "I'm just following Steph and Paul's orders and they obviously don't have their heads stuck up their asses like you do."

CM Punk, for all his angry exterior, could feel himself deflate at the fact that the woman he loved only a few months prior was speaking to him the way she was. His mind was running with all different scenarios about Wrestlemania, Raw and Survivor Series and he had no idea what to believe. But right now, he knew that he had to make his mind up. Would he continue treating her the way he was or could he find the time to seriously find out what the hell happened all those months ago. But even if he did, he still had no idea who to trust anymore. This business had ruined his sense of trust and slowly, it was taking over his personal life. He deepened his scowl, but even Zoe had seen the falter in his expression, and he shook his head, "Whatever, Princess. Just make sure your pet dogs don't get too carried away taking out my opponents."

Zoe watched as her former boyfriend walked away and her emotions were conflicting as to what to feel especially now after her showdown with her cousin. She sighed, feeling a warm arm rest along her lower back and she leaned into the touch, her head resting back against Dean Ambrose's shoulder. Roman stepped into her view and he frowned, reaching forward to wipe a stray tear she didn't realise had fallen, "You alright?"

"I think we need an icecream night tonight."

"And beer?"

Zoe felt Dean's voice rumble through his chest and she smiled shakily, a laugh leaving her lips, "Yes, Dean. We will get beer."

Seth puffed out his chest, proudly, "I'm in charge of ice cream!"

"We know you are. Just try not to eat half the tub before you get to the room."

Zoe smiled, her mood slightly lifting as the boys surrounding her bickered. She knew that they did this to cheer her up and she realised she had a hard choice to make. Would she get her old life back or stick with her new one?

Or could both survive together?

* * *

><p>AN: I'll try and have another update soon but its a bit hard with exams and all that! Let me know what you all think! And I still would like some thoughts on who you think Zoe should go with. I didn't really think of putting her with the Shield until my reviews exploded a few chapters back on their first appearance. You guys were keen to tell me! So either Shield members or back with Punk and i'll see how it fits in with my story :)


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars or Divas featured in this story. I only own the OC characters and the storyline.

A/N: Thank you for the overwhelming response to the previous chapter! Much appreciated! I apologise for the wait for this chapter but I'm getting super busy, so I thought I'd get out a very long.. like emphasis on the long... chapter to you guys. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>25th September, 2012<span>

"Are we having a slumber party?"

A stray shoe went flying towards Dean Ambrose as he entered the room, a curious look on his face at the sight before him. Ducking out of the way, he avoided the shoe that his friend had thrown at him. He bit back a smirk at the former ROH wrestler in front of him and reached out a hand to flick Seth's hair. Seth growled, reaching up a hand to swat Dean away from him, "Dude, back off."

"But you look so pretty."

"You're a creep."

Zoe scowled at them from where she stood behind Seth, "Dean, knock it off! I'm trying to do something here."

"Are you even qualified to do this?" Zoe shot a look at him, and Dean chuckled, loudly, "Oh my god, you're not."

Seth's eyes widened, and he tried to spin in his seat to stare at Zoe in horror, "You said you were!"

Zoe slapped him with the back end of the paintbrush she was using and forced him back into his seat, "It's not that hard, Seth. Calm down, it looks fine."

The door slammed open and Roman stepped into the apartment, his own face breaking into one of shock, "What the hell is going on?" He held up a hand at the cheeky look on Dean's face, as the former CZW wrestler reclined on the couch, "Actually, I don't think I want to know."

Zoe rolled her eyes and continued with her handiwork, "He wanted a new look and I volunteered to help."

Seth nodded his head, only to be smacked by Zoe for moving, "Okay OW! She's helping me dye my hair."

"Will she be braiding it too?"

Zoe leant over and smacked Dean's leg to which he only winked at her. She rolled her eyes at the man before turning her attention back to the bleach she was applying to Seth Rollins' hair, "At least he's trying to change his look."

Dean narrowed his eyes at her, "Woman, I waxed my chest hair for you, isn't that enough?"

There was a snort of laughter from Roman Reigns, "That wasn't just a favour to her. That was for all of us." Roman pushed Dean's legs off the couch and collapsed into the newly freed space, his head tilting back to rest against the back of the couch. He ignored the glare that Dean was sending him and reached a hand over to swat the younger man across the head, "Did you guys hear?"

Zoe looked up from her task, an eyebrow raised, "Hear what?"

Dean smirked, "Boss lady doesn't know!"

Seth wore a matching smirk, "Now isn't this a first!"

Zoe Winters laughed, trying in vain to look offended at the teasing the boys were giving her. The past few months had flown by while she was working in Florida and she found herself forgetting about the drama back home. Deep down, she knew she had replaced her friends with these men and some of the NXT Divas, but still she was hesitant that all things would remain good forever. She was spending more and more time at Seth and Dean's apartment or her own apartment with the three men. It wasn't that she was showing biased towards the men she secretly all wanted to make it to Raw, but she wanted to make sure that these guys were good guys. That they weren't going to let the fame get to their heads once they got to Raw. She rolled her eyes, finally admitting defeat, "Fine, I don't know. Tell me what the juicy secret is."

"CM Punk is coming to NXT."

The paintbrush faltered in her hand and she regained her composure, pretending the slip up didn't happen. But what she didn't know was that one Samoan had seen the moment of hesitation. He frowned, tilting his head to the side, "You alright, Zo'?"

She looked up, her hands pausing in their movements, "Yeah sure. Just wow, that's exciting."

Dean's smirk only grew, "Well, it would be for you."

Her stomach dropped at the words and she raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what on earth he meant. There was no way these guys knew about her and Punk. She had made it adamently clear to Paul Levesque that he was not to mention her past employment on Raw or her past relationship with the Superstar. She plastered on a curious look, a smile on her lips, "What makes you say that?"

Seth laughed, his body shaking with the chuckle, "C'mon babe, we know you're a fangirl."

Her body relaxed and a small laugh escaped her lips. Crisis averted, she thought, resuming her work, "Oh really? A fan girl?"

"I saw you have one of his tshirts."

Zoe blinked, her eyes wide at the discovery. She had most definitely forgotten about the collection of shirts that she had acquired over her short relationship with the WWE Champion, "What were you doing in my bedroom, Ambrose?"

"Stealing your underwear."

Her body shook with laughter, shaking her head at the Ohio native, "You're a fucking wierdo, Dean."

He smirked, "You wouldn't have it any other way, Princess."

She rolled her eyes, placing the paintbrush and the bowl of hairbleach on the table. She patted Seth on the shoulder, "Alright Rollins. Leave it on for twenty minutes and then we can wash it out." Zoe grabbed his shoulder, before he tried to make a run for it, "And don't run around. Do you seriously want bleach to go everywhere?"

The NXT Champion pouted, standing up with the towel draped across his bare shoulders, "Fine." His hand reached for her hip, whilst he leant forward to kiss her on the cheek, "Thanks for the help, woman."

Zoe smiled, leaning into the half embrace that Rollins had her in, "Anytime, Sethy, anytime." She looked at Roman and Dean, "So when is CM Punk coming to NXT?"

Roman shrugged, "Think they said two weeks?"

"Haven't seen that guy in ages."

The Boston native frowned, staring at Dean, "Wait, you know him?"

Seth snorted, his arm wrapped gently around her waist as he leaned back against the table, "We all do. He's ex Ring of Honour, Dean knows him through Daniel Bryan and I don't know where the hell Roman met him."

"My cousin isn't his biggest fan."

"Your cousin?" asked Zoe, a questioning look on her face.

"Dwayne Johnson."

Right now, Zoe Winters knew she needed to avoid that day that CM Punk came into NXT. The last thing she needed was for him to see her but also for him to see the guys she was hanging with. Roman being the Rock's cousin only made things worse. This was a guy she was planning to bring up to the roster and already she knew that Punk was going to be on her case about him being the Rock's cousin. She sighed heavily, leaning against Seth, trying to calm her nerves down at just the thought of seeing her ex-boyfriend again. On top of everything, she didn't want these guys to find out about what happened at Raw. They didn't need to know and she'd rather come in with a clean slate with these guys, rather than them hearing about her supposed 'backstabbing' of her friends. As the boys talked around her, she heard her phone buzz with a message and she untangled herself from Seth to answer it. Her heart sank at the message and it all but confirmed the rumour that Punk would be appearing at Raw.

It was a text message from Paul Levesque saying, '_We need to talk_.'

* * *

><p><span>10th October, 2012<span>

"Thanks for the tag match, man, I really appreciate it."

CM Punk smirked, his hand brushing through his short hair, "No problem, Rollins. You put on a good match for your title defense. Keep it up."

The NXT taping had ended and CM Punk was backstage with Seth Rollins. CM Punk had provided commentary for Seth's title defense and then after the show had ended, an impromptu tag match occurred with the two men teaming up against two other NXT wrestlers. The WWE Champion collapsed in a nearby chair in the backstage area, his title draped across his bag at his feet. Seth took a seat next to him, his own title sitting across his lap, "So how's being Champion feel?"

Punk chuckled, "It's pretty good. Been Champion for almost a year now."

"Looks like your pipebomb worked."

The older man nodded his head, "Yeah sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

Seth raised an eyebrow, confused, "What do you mean?"

"It's every man for himself out on the main roster. Sure, you want to see your friends get time out there, but at the end of the day, you have to do what's best for you. Don't let anyone try and use you for whatever reason." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, his mind reeling with thoughts of Zoe. It had been months since he had seen or heard from her. He shook his head, pulling out his phone, "Anyway, enough drama. I checked out this band the other day with some friends. They sound like that psychotic music you listen to. You might like them. Can't remember their name but I've got the video here, hang on."

CM Punk flicked through his photos on his phone, trying to locate the video of the concert he went to. Seth glanced over his shoulder and blinked when several photos were flicked through that starred someone very familiar to him. "Woah.. whose the babe?"

The WWE Champion paused, his hand stilling over the iPhone, realising that he had photos of him and Zoe still on there. He flicked back to one of him and Zoe from Royal Rumble, where she was sitting on his lap and they'd attempted to try and take a selfie. Punk remembered the shot well as he'd tried to plant a kiss on her cheek much to her amusement. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "My girlfriend. Sorry, ex-girlfriend. It's complicated."

"She's cute. Is she a Diva?"

Punk shook his head, "Nah, she's a writer. Well, was a writer for Raw until a couple of months ago."

"What happened?"

The Superstar laughed bitterly, "Even if I knew, I don't even think I could explain it to you. It was a mess. People got screwed over and things were said and she got fired or quit.. I don't know and just took off."

Seth frowned, "Took off?"

"We've all tried contacting her but she's just as stubborn as me, I guess. But then again, the more she's gone, the more you kinda realise she might've been guilty of what happened. I've spoken to her once. Didn't end too well. Even her cousin hasn't spoken to her."

"Her cousin?"

"John Cena."

Seth Rollins coughed uncomfortably, trying to cover the shock on his face at the news, "The WWE fired the golden boy's cousin?"

Punk snorted, "Like I said, it's more complicated than that." He paused, looking back down at his phone, "Anyway, let's just find this video."

Seth nodded, his attention back on Punk's phone as they searched for the concert video. But really, his mind was racing, wondering who him and the boys had gotten themselves involved with. And he wanted answers sooner or later. As Punk finally found the video and they watched it, Seth didn't notice Dean Ambrose make his way over to them.

"Yo, Seth. We got to run. Princess isn't here and I want to make sure she's alright."

Punk looked up at the former CZW wrestler, the familiar term of endearment stilling him for a moment, "Princess?"

From behind Punk's shoulder, Seth made several gestures to get Dean to shut up. Luckily, his friend took the hint and he just shot him a curious look. Seth patted Punk on the shoulder, "Anyway, thanks again man. Good luck with everything and I'll hopefully see you soon." Seth darted forward, pushing Dean down the corridor.

"Dude, what the fuck? Stop pushing me!"

Seth growled, his mouth close to Dean's ear, "Shut up. We need to find Roman. I have something to tell you guys before we go home."

* * *

><p>"Boys! I bring pizza and beer!"<p>

Using the key that Dean had given her for him and Seth's apartment, she swung the front door open. Kicking it closed, Zoe expertly balanced the beer and pizzas she had in her arms as she made her way down the corridor of the large apartment towards the living area. "Guys, c'mon, get it while it's hot!" She entered the living and kitchen area and found the three men, standing around the island bench. She froze, taking in the looks on their faces and her stomach dropped. Frowning, she took a step back, her grip still on the pizzas and beers. "What's going on?" asked Zoe, staring at the three men.

"You called in sick to the show tonight."

Zoe nodded, mutely, "Yeah, I wasn't feeling too great."

"You look fine now," said Seth, no trace of the usual smile on his face.

"It was a migraine. It's all gone now. Took enough Tylenol for it to disappear." She peered curiously at the boys, "Are you guys upset I didn't come to the show because I was sick?"

"Because you were sick or because you didn't want to see someone?"

Zoe looked at Dean, who had just spoken. She swallowed, realising that somehow they had found out. She tried to act calm, "See who?"

"Your ex-boyfriend."

Her eyes fluttered shut. Finally, the truth was going to catch up with her. Not that she had lied to the boys, but she had expertly kept that part of her life quiet and away from them. She didn't want to think about it. The past few months she had spent being happy and carefree, forgetting completely about her previous stint on Raw. She only knew it was a matter of time before it caught up wiht her but she was hoping it wasn't till they actually had to go to Raw. She stepped forward, placing the pizza and beer on the countertop, "You spoke to Punk?"

Seth glanced at the other two men before speaking first, "He was showing me something on his phone and accidently came across pictures of you and him together."

"You didn't-"

"No, I didn't say anything," snapped Seth, dragging a hand through his two toned hair, "Who are you?"

"What do you mean who am I? I'm Zoe. You know who I am."

"You're John Cena's cousin."

She blinked, staring hard at Roman, "What does that matter? I told you I used to work on Raw. That's it."

"Seems a little wierd that as the cousin of John Cena, you'd go from top writer on Raw to a writer on NXT."

Zoe glared at the long haired Samoan, "You of all people should know that no one thinks highly of someone who rides on the coat tails of their family's success."

The words stung Roman and he realised he had hurt Zoe. He cast a glance at the other two wrestlers and didn't know what to say to their young friend. When Seth had finished talking with Punk, he had immediately told the boys what had been said and they were hurt that she had kept this from them. They weren't hurt about her dating Punk, but more of the fact that something bad had happened to her and she hadn't been totally honest with them. Dean looked over at Zoe, pursing his lips slightly in thought, "Why were you fired?"

"It's none of your business."

"We heard it's because you screwed some people over." Dean watched as Zoe's face immediately hardened, "Or people thought you screwed them over."

Roman watched as her eyes filled with tears, "Zoe, what the hell happened over on Raw?"

Zoe tried to bite back the tears. She really did not want a repeat of losing people over trusting her. She knew it was a mistake to hide everything but at the same time, it wasn't something she wanted out in the open. She didn't need their sympathy or pity. Swallowing back a small sob, she explained, her voice shaky, "I was in charge of Punk and John's storyline last year through Money in the Bank and Summerslam. The Summer of Punk was my idea. But the Board of Directors screwed around and I quit. I came back on the promise from the McMahons that I would help change things around the WWE. I helped people win the titles that no one even thought of as Champions." She let out a small laugh, wiping some stray tears, "I didn't realise it at first but everyone was using me. Using my friendship with them as a way to move up. Wrestlemania wasn't booked as you guys saw it and neither was Raw the next night. A whole bunch of screw jobs went on and people I loved looked to me as the person behind it all." Zoe let out a sob, "I quit. I wasn't fired. The McMahons still wanted me around, so they sent me here after rehiring me during post-Wrestlemania Raw. No one knows I'm here. I didn't want them to know." She looked at the faces of the men standing before her, "I realise I should've told you all this from the beginning. But even my friends and family didn't outright believe me when this all went down. What made me think you guys would want to know me after hearing something like that?" She reached in her bag for her keys and offered them a shaky look, "I'm sorry I wasn't truthful but I don't like talking about it. Enjoy your pizza and beer. I'm going to head home."

The three NXT wrestlers didn't even make a move to chase after her. They heard the front door slam and Seth sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Jesus."

"Fuck, we're dickheads."

"You're telling me."

* * *

><p>Zoe glared pointedly at her fridge, the contents of it unappealing to her as a choice for dinner. She regretted not taking at least one box of pizza in her frantic dash from Seth and Dean's apartment, and now she was starving for some food. Sighing to herself, she pulled out a frozen meal from her freezer, intent on heating it up and trying to forget about the events of an hour ago. As she popped the meal in the microwave, her doorbell sounded and she frowned. Her bare feet padded across the tiled floor of her apartment to the door and she stood on her tiptoes to see through the peephole. She snorted upon sight of a tub of Ben and Jerry's icecream thrust up against the peephole and she swung open the door to find three NXT wrestlers, looking very sheepish and apologetic.<p>

"What are you guys doing?"

Roman held up the beers, whilst Seth balanced the pizzas in his hands, "We brought fresh pizza and beers."

Zoe tried not to let her lips curl into an easy smile at the look of apology on all their faces. She did stifle a laugh as Dean thrust the tub of Ben and Jerry's icecream into her arms, "We're sorry."

"We were assholes," said Roman. Zoe raised an eyebrow and he cleared his throat, correcting himself, "We are assholes."

"You're our girl and we are sorry we got mad over something like that. We understand why you didn't want to tell us."

Zoe finally let the smile curl her lips and she shook her head, "You guys are too much." She squealed as Roman dumped the beers on the floor and enveloped her in a huge hug, pressing a kiss to her hair, "Roman, dear god, release!" Within seconds of him releasing, Seth had her in a hug, the pizzas balancing precariously in his other hand, "Thank you guys."

As they made their way into the apartment, Dean grabbed her in a hug, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist. Zoe smiled into his neck, her own arms tight around his neck. Dean mumbled against her hair, "Punk's an idiot for using you."

She only hugged him tighter in response and the former CZW wrestler lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her into the apartment, ignoring her squeals of protest. Zoe's night immediately brightened after the boys came over. They filled her living area with pillows and beanbags, their bodies strewn amongst the various pieces of cushioning. The boxes of pizza, beer and icecream littered her floor but Zoe didn't care as she glanced around at the boys curled up in their little nest of beanbags. She didn't know when it happened but they all fell asleep during their movie marathon that they were having. It wasn't until the early morning that Zoe woke up, her eyes taking in her surroundings and she laughed at the passed out bodies of Dean, Seth and Roman on the bean bags around her. She untangled herself from the arm that Dean had slung over her waist and she made her way to the kitchen to start on breakfast for the three men. As the coffee machine warmed up, she heard a shuffle into the kitchen and earned a sleepy smile from Seth Rollins as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Morning Sethy."

There was a groan that sounded something like good morning and Zoe rolled her eyes as Seth took a seat next to her kitchen island and banged his head straight on the counter top. Biting back a snort, she reached over and flicked his ear to wake him up properly. She earnt herself a growl and Seth's arm reached up lazily to swat her away. Seth propped his head up on one hand, his eyes watching as Zoe made her way around the kitchen to make them breakfast. "You okay?"

Zoe nodded, pulling out the eggs and bacon from her fridge, "I'm fine, Seth."

"We're still sorry."

The Boston native smiled at him as she turned the stove on to cook bacon and eggs, "Seth, I know. I should've told you guys but at the same time, you guys didn't need to ambush me."

"Well, I was kind of angry about it when Punk told me. I didn't want to think that this great girl had some sort of secret to her."

A pink colour stained Zoe's cheeks, embarrassed at his kind words, "I'm not that great."

"You are," said Seth, watching as she cooked breakfast. He replayed Punk's words in his head about people using him and he realised he was talking about Zoe. He shook his head, disbelieving that a guy he held in such regard could treat Zoe the way he did, "He warned me against people using me because I'm Champion. Or using any of us if we made it to the main roster. I'm guessing he was referring to you."

Zoe snorted, "Of course he was. And you can believe him if-"

"I'm not."

She glanced over her shoulder at the NXT Champion and she smiled, turning the stove onto low as the bacon simmered in the pan. Zoe walked past him, her intention to make it to the fridge, but his arm shot out and he grabbed her, pulling her to him in a tight hug. She smiled against his neck, his arms wrapped tight around her, "Thank you, Seth." She stepped out of him arms, her ears picking up the sound of the bacon sizzling and she rushed over to check it. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Dean and Roman enter the kitchen. Roman collapsed on a stool next to Seth, a tired groan leaving him. Dean walked past her, dropping a quick kiss on her cheek, his eyes straight on the fridge. A smile curled her lips as she watched the three males sit around the kitchen bench, and she served up breakfast, taking a seat opposite them. "So, I haven't been completely honest with you guys."

Dean looked at her, a mouth full of food, "Huh?"

"Jesus, Dean, swallow."

"That's what she said."

"It's 9am. How are you already perverted?"

"He's perverted 24/7," remarked Roman, drily, "Now what were you going to say?"

"I was sent to FCW and NXT with a job," explained Zoe. She watched as the three men looked interested at the story, "I was told to come here and pick someone to bring to Raw for a place on the main roster." She stifled a laugh as Seth's bacon and egg roll dropped out of his hands in shock.

"What?!" exclaimed Seth, "You've been assessing us? Who did you pick? Why? When?"

Roman reached over and smacked Seth upside the head, "Bro, calm down." He turned his attention back to Zoe, "No but seriously explain."

"That's why I didn't come yesterday. One, I didn't want to see Punk. And two, because I was finalising with Paul and Stephanie about who was going."

Dean sighed, his hand reaching up to drag through his messy hair. He knew deep down that they were going to pick the NXT Champion. He was happy for Seth, but he really wished that he could go as well. He glanced up at Zoe and frowned at the knowing smirk on her face. It was like she knew what he was thinking. He raised an eyebrow, "Who did you pick?"

"I couldn't pick one."

"If you think dragging this out is funny, it's not. I'm going to have anxiety in a second," said Seth, his eyes wide with curiousity.

"I'm sending Big E Langston," She paused as their faces slightly crumpled in disappointment, but she grinned, taking the time to clearly say her next few words.

"But I'm also sending you three."

* * *

><p><span>7th December, 2012<span>

"Hold the camera straight!"

"I am!"

"It's shaking, you dumbass."

"It's really awkward trying to get us all in shot!"

"It's not that fucking hard, Rollins. It's like a selfie. You take those things all the fucking time."

Stephanie McMahon-Levesque tried her hardest to ignore the situation taking place in front of her and suppress her laughter at the bickering men. The Smackdown taping was going to start in a few hours and she was currently overseeing any pre-recorded segments that needed to be filmed prior to the event. Unfortunately, the current promo was not going as planned with the three members of the Shield arguing in regards to the camera that they were holding. She glanced over at Zoe, who looked extremely exasperated with the arguing men and also very nervous. Stephanie didn't blame her. As per Zoe's own request, Stephanie was lightening her workload and Zoe was only in charge of the Shield. Slowly, Stephanie would reintroduce her to the other storylines but for now, Stephanie knew that Zoe wouldn't be able to deal with the pressure of working with her cousin, former boyfriend and former friends. She sent Zoe a reassuring smile as she looked her way and Zoe threw her arms in the air, letting out a groan, "Guys, seriously, hurry up!"

Dean Ambrose shot her a nasty look, "This was your dumb idea!"

Paul Levesque appeared behind his wife, an amused smile curling his lips, "And we thought Brooks and co were a handful."

Stephanie laughed, swatting at his chest playfully, "Leave them alone. They just want to get this right."

In front of them, Zoe was helping the boys work out how to hold the camera still, before she threw her arms in the air again, frustrated, "Ugh, I give up. Just do it!" She looked to Stephanie for the go-ahead and Steph nodded, signalling that they could start filming. All eyes were trained on the monitor as the three NXT wrestlers delivered their first promo.

"I think I'm nauseous already."

Stephanie smacked her husband, gently as the camera spun around the room before settling on the men, "Shush, just watch!"

"I'm Seth Rollins."

"Roman Reigns."

"I'm Dean Ambrose." He ran a hand through his messy hair, "What do we know about injustice?"

"We don't just know injustice."

"We've lived it."

"Last Monday, CM Punk, Champion for over a year, was disrespected with a lie detector test.. By the Miz. Well welcome to consequences, Miz!"

The intensity with which the three men were delivering their promo was creating smiles and approvals from all those gathered around to watch. Stephanie glanced at her husband, who seemed entranced by the whole thing. Sure, they had heard that they were good promo workers, but right now, they were right up there with some of the best on their main roster. Paul's smirk only grew, "She's done very well."

"I knew she would," said Stephanie, quietly, as she glanced over at the young woman she was very fond of. Zoe's face was split into a wide grin as the men she had hand chosen, delivered an amazing promo. The shaking from the camera only added to the overall effect of the promo, and Zoe snorted at the irony of it.

"At the TLC Pay-Per-View.. Bring tables! Bring ladders! Bring chairs!" roared Dean, as he stood between Roman and Seth, "The Shield brings the sword."

As the camera shut off, there was a moment of silence and the three NXT wrestlers looked at each other, uneasily. Had they stuffed up? Roman chewed his lip, praying that they had impressed these people and not just ruined their chances at the big time. And after what felt like minutes, the people gathered backstage to watch the promo burst into a round of applause and the Shield sighed with relief. Seth looked over at Zoe, who was grinning widely at them, and he nudged Roman, who only grinned back at Zoe. The small dark haired girl leapt into Roman's arms, hugging him tightly around the neck, "That was amazing!"

He twirled her around, his arms tight around her waist. The Samoan placed her back on the floor and he couldn't help but smile at the large grin on her face. Ever since they had come back to the main roster, Zoe had spent a majority of her time upset or nervous due to the reappearance of her cousin, exboyfriend and friends in her life. He tried to supress his own laugh as the young woman tried to compose herself and act professionial in front of her bosses. Roman glanced at Stephanie and Paul, "That was alright?"

Stephanie McMahon's face split into a large grin, "That was exactly what she said. It was amazing. You boys have done so well. Which is why we have rewarded you."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "With what?"

"You'll be winning at the TLC PPV," explained Paul. He shared a look with his wife as the three men tried in vain to keep calm at the news, "Anyway boys, duty calls. We shall see you next week." He grabbed Steph's hand to slow her departure down and the two glanced over their shoulders as the three men suddenly started jumping around and hugging Zoe, their yells echoing through the backstage area.

Stephanie laughed, smiling up at her husband, "I think she'll be fine."

Paul nodded, "For now, anyway. The big PPVs and decisions are coming up and I only hope that she's alright."

* * *

><p><span>16th December, 2012<span>

"Dean Ambrose, I swear to God if you do not stop pacing, I'm going to punch you in the face."

Seth Rollins snorted from his spot on the floor, stretching, "Dude, I've seen her punch. You probably are best to stop pacing."

As Dean sent a glare towards Zoe, she merely grinned back at him. She was perched on Roman's lap backstage in the monitor bay while they waited for their match to be called. It was the next one and to say the boys were nervous would be an understatement. Sure, they had appeared in a pay per view before, but now they were actually getting a match. And they were going to win. An assistant rushed down from the gorilla area and waved at the three members of the Shield to come up. She stood up, brushing her hands against her pants, "Good luck boys. Have fun!" Her cheeks flamed red as the three planted quick kisses on her cheeks, before disappearing up the stairs.

Now it was her turn to be nervous.

She stood in front of a monitor, with other members of the roster gathered around her to watch the six man tables, ladders and chairs match. Some of the roster were new to her but the rest that she did know just ignored her and she couldn't complain. She'd rather they not say anything to her. As she watched the match unfold, Stephanie and Paul appeared by her side, their eyes also on the monitor.

"You look nervous."

Zoe shot a look at her boss, "It's their first match. Ever. And it's with tables, ladders and chairs. Forgive me for being slightly worried."

Stephanie smacked her husband's arm as he chuckled. She patted Zoe's arm gently, "They'll be alright, don't worry." Her eyes took in Zoe's breath hitching every time they did a dangerous spot, "You really care about them, don't you?"

"They're my friends, Stephanie." Zoe chewed her thumbnail, watching as Kane was buried under some of the barricade, "I know I should've learnt my lesson from last time, but I know these boys aren't using me." Her eyes widened as she watched Seth scale a ladder to jump on Ryback, who was being laid out on a table by Dean and Roman, "Oh dear god." Her eyes only widened more and her heart raced as Dean and Roman returned to the ring, but now Ryback chased Seth up the ladder and onto another one, "Did you know about this?"

Paul tried to look innocent but he wasn't fooling anyone, "They wanted to make an impact." He winced as Seth was thrown from the ladder through four tables, "Well, Seth wanted to make an impact."

Zoe watched horrified as Seth remained motionless amongst the table remains, "Oh my god, Seth!"

"I bet he gets to hear that all the time."

Zoe froze, her body stilling at the voice that suddenly appeared beside her. She turned her attention from the monitor where the Shield had pinned Daniel Bryan for the win and she glared at CM Punk. The WWE Champion wasn't appearing on the PPV as he had a supposed knee injury from Monday Night Raw, but still he had travelled with the company, much to Zoe's displeasure. Paul stepped forward, his eyes hard on Punk, "Brooks, leave her alone."

Zoe shook her head, stepping forward, her eyes continuously glancing at the gorilla area, "Paul, it's fine."

Punk smirked, "It hurts that I've hit a nerve, a true nerve if anything-"

"Punk, just shut up. Just shut the fuck up." The WWE Champion paused, not prepared for the retort from his exgirlfriend, "I get it. I broke your heart. I was a backstabbing bitch. I'm going to screw everyone in the company, whatever. Get some new fucking material because right now, I don't have time for you. I need to go check up on my friend, who if you haven't noticed, just got flung through four tables. And do you know what? He's probably going to perform tomorrow night on Raw despite the fact he's hurt." A smirk curled her lips, "Unlike the WWE Champion who pussied his way out of a match because he maybe twinged his knee-"

"I'm fucking hurt-"

"Not caring!" yelled Zoe, her attention now on the three men appearing from the gorilla area, "Not caring at all. Have a good night, Punk."

Punk watched as she tended to an injured and dazed Seth Rollins. He watched as her small hand brushed back his long hair from his face and he could see her lips moving as she tried to get Rollins to focus on her and check for a concussion. He sighed, not noticing that he had garnered quite an audience with his display.

"If this is your way of getting her back, it kinda sucks."

The WWE Champion looked slightly horrified at the inclination from Stephanie McMahon, "Excuse me?"

"This attacking her act you got going? It's not working."

"I'm not trying to win her back-"

"Yes you are," said Stephanie, "You weren't like this when you broke up with Beth."

Punk snorted, "Beth is not a backstabbing bitch."

Paul shook his head, his disappointment in the Chicago native showing, "Why don't you believe anything we say?" As soon as Punk opened his mouth to reply, Paul held up his hand to silence him, "Shit, don't answer that. I don't have time for your repeated spell about how we always lie to you and screw you over. This energy that you put into making her life miserable backstage.. is it worth it? Does it make you feel better?"

"I want her to know that she pissed me off."

Stephanie threw her hands in the air, an exasperated sigh leaving her, "Paul, I can't do this. He's a moron."

"That's not a nice thing to say about your favourite employee," quipped Punk, a smirk on his face.

Stephanie McMahon glared at him, "You will start treating her with respect. She is an employee here and you will treat her with the same respect you show us. If I even hear of you harassing her again, I will take that title away from you."

The smirk only grew as Punk recalled the announcement made months ago when the Rock challenged for his title at the future Royal Rumble, "Oh but you're already doing that to me, aren't you?"

"Punk, get the hell out of my sight."

* * *

><p>While Seth was being checked out by the medical team and the other two showered backstage, Zoe couldn't help herself and found herself in the monitor bay again. She had made sure the coast was clear from her ex-boyfriend CM Punk and she stood off to the side, while the rest of the roster gathered to watch the main event of TLC. Zoe shook her head. Some things still hadn't changed. Her cousin was maineventing the PPV against Dolph Ziggler in a ladder match for the Money in the Bank briefcase. How this was picked over the title matches, she would never understand. But despite her current situation with her cousin John Cena, she still found herself silently cheering him on during his match. Her eyes widened in shock however when AJ Lee knocked over the ladder he was climbing to allow Dolph Ziggler the win.<p>

As the PPV came to an end, Zoe let out a disbelieving laugh at the turn of events. John Cena had lost in a main event. Maybe some things had changed. She spun around only to come face to face with one familiar Diva.

"Hey Zoe."

The Boston native smiled gently at the woman in front of her, "Hey Nikki."

"I just wanted to say welcome home. Um.. it's been kind of not the same without you here."

Zoe could tell the other woman was nervous. Obviously, John had told her what happened weeks earlier at the Raw show where she said some unkind things about her former friend that she didn't deserve. She sighed, "Nikki, I'm sorry-"

The Bella Twin waved a hand, dismissing the younger woman from apologising, "No, it's fine. I get where you were coming from and you didn't know the whole story. It's exactly the same with you. We didn't know the whole story and we formed our own judgements."

"I heard you had my back but," said Zoe, sending her a small wink.

Nikki laughed, glad to see Zoe relaxed around her, "I've been with this company long enough to know that something fishy was going on." She paused to wave at John as he appeared from the gorilla area. He noticed she was with Zoe and nodded, his own smile forming on his face, before continuing down the corridor to get changed.

"So you and my cousin, huh?"

A blush covered the Bella's cheeks, "Yeah, me and John."

"What happened with Nick?"

She smiled sadly, "We both just wanted different things and it felt more like friends towards the end. It also didn't help that he was Team Punk and I was Team Zoe." She glanced to her left where she heard a squeal and her smile widened slightly, "Besides, he looks a lot happier now and I wish them all the best."

Zoe looked over at the sight of Dolph Ziggler wrapping his arms around AJ Lee to plant a kiss on her lips. She laughed, "Well, didn't pick that pairing."

"Neither did I." Nikki Bella nodded her head towards the Shield members making their way towards them, "I'll let you go. But if you need anything, Zoe, just call me okay? We miss you. We all do and I know John really wants to talk to you, so please, give him a chance."

Zoe nodded, "I will. I'll talk to him." She laughed as Nikki lunged forward to give her a quick hug and she pulled away, waving at the former Diva's Champion, "I'll see you later." She turned on her heel and made her way over to Roman, Dean and Seth, her face softening at the sight of Seth being held up slightly by Roman, "You alright, Sethy?"

He nodded, a tired look on his face, "My head is pounding but there's no concussion so I'm all good."

"Icecream?" Zoe laughed at his excited nod, only for him to hiss in pain and clutch his head, "C'mon boys, let's go." She glanced to the left and noticed Punk watching the exchange and she chewed her lip, her head ducking down. Within seconds, she felt an arm around her shoulders, tugging her to a hard chest and she smiled against Dean, "Thank you."

He planted a kiss on her head, "He's got to get through us before he gets to you, Sunshine. We got your back."

As the four of them walked down the corridor, Nikki Bella was joined by John Cena to watch them disappear. He shot a look at his girlfriend, "You spoke to her?"

Nikki nodded, curling her arm around his, "We spoke. She's going to talk to you, John. But I need you to do me a favour." He looked at her curiously and she continued, "I want you to go easy on her. Your cousin is not comfortable being back here at all. I've been watching her the past few weeks. She's not happy here and the only way you're going to get her back is if you take it slow with her. Don't be accusing with her, alright? I know she's angry and you're angry, but I need you to please do this for me."

John Cena sighed, linking his fingers with hers, "Alright, fine. I promise." He glanced back down the corridor at the retreating form of his cousin, and he only hoped that she would stick to her word and come talk to him. He just wanted his cousin back. And as he noticed Punk also watching the four disappear, he realised that he needed to get things around here back to the way they were, and fast. Because judging by the look on Punk's face, he really wanted Zoe back as well.

* * *

><p>AN: Ta daaaaaa :) let me know what you guys think!


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars or Divas featured in this story. Only the OCs and the storyline belong to me.

A/N: Thank you once again for all your favourites, follows and reviews! It's amazing the amount of people still discovering this story! It means a lot to see that new readers are being drawn in. Here's another long one for you all to enjoy! Let me know what you think :)

* * *

><p><span>20th December, 2012<span>

"Nicole, while I'm also very happy to see you, could you please let go? You're suffocating me."

Whilst Nikki Bella unwound her arms from Zoe's neck, the young Boston native smiled appreciatively at the young woman, her eyes darting around nervously at her surroundings. It had been a few days since she had spoken to Nikki at TLC and she finally worked up the courage to go see her cousin and speak with him. So right now, she was in Florida at his house, the impending talk slowly making her more and more nervous. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She thought she would be more angry. But now that she stood in the large foyer to John's Florida home, she realised that she was so scared that this talk wouldn't go well and she would lose her cousin. Sure, her cousin had done wrong by her, but at the same time, he was family and she didn't want to lose that. Nikki smiled at the young woman, grabbing her hand and guiding her through the foyer to John's self proclaimed 'gentlemen's room'. As they reached the door, Nikki knocked softly, calling out to her boyfriend, "John, babe, Zoe's here."

There was a yell to come in from her cousin and Zoe immediately wished Nikki didn't let go of her hand and push her gently into the room. The brunette sent a glance over her shoulder. Clearly the worry was evident in her eyes as Nikki only shook her head and mouthed that she would be fine. Zoe turned back to face her cousin, who was sitting in an armchair. After what felt like hours, John gestured to a chair opposite him, "Take a seat, Zo'."

She let out a sigh, taking a seat opposite her cousin, her hands tapping away on her legs nervously. Another moment passed before she worked up the nerve to speak to him, "So you wanted to talk?"

John nodded, "It's been a damn long time, Zoe. I haven't spoken to you or seen you since April-"

"You've seen me at work-"

"That's not the same," said John, firmly. He shook his head, brushing a hand over his head, "That day when you took off.. I don't blame you for doing that. I know how we acted. I know that we terrified you and I know that you needed to escape. That I understand. But Zoe, that was in April. I didn't even get to see you until you were being spun around by those NXT guys in November! Those months in between.. I was so scared. I had no idea where you were and your mother didn't sound all too convincing on the phone."

Zoe nodded, her fingers picking at a stray thread on her jeans, "Mom said you called."

"I called everyday."

Her dark eyes blinked at the man sitting opposite her and she raised an eyebrow, "Every day?"

He nodded, "Every day. I hoped Aunt Lisa would crack eventually. She didn't. She's a hard bitch that one." He paused, his eyes widening, "Please don't tell her I said that." Before Zoe could stop herself, a small giggle escaped her, and John smiled at the sound, "See, I miss hearing that."

Zoe chewed her lip, all traces of a smile and laugh gone, "Look, I'm sorry I never called you back. I'm sorry I never answered your messages but you have to understand what it felt like that weekend. Everything just came crashing down and it was like there was a witchhunt for me. I just couldn't do it anymore." She paused, taking a deep breath, her eyes looking anywhere but at her cousin, "I can get that the others would react the way they did. But you, my god John, you looked to me to blame straight away. You're my cousin! I thought you would give me the benefit of the doubt."

John sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Zoe, it was a stressful time for everyone. I'm sorry I acted like that-"

"But you didn't even stop the others. You just let it happen."

"How many times do you want me to say I'm sorry?!"

The exclamation from the former WWE Champion made Zoe freeze in her seat. Her eyes went wide at the words spoken by her cousin and she knew he immediately regretted it by the look on his face. John groaned, rubbing a hand over his tired face, "I don't know what I can do to make you see that I'm sorry. I'm not even apologising for the others. I'm apologising for me because every day I have thought about the fact that I made my baby girl cry. You're my little sister pretty much, Zoe. You mean the world to me and watching your world collapse on you that weekend tore me up. Yes, I was angry at what happened. But afterwards, all I wanted to know was if you were alright. I'm so sorry, Zoe."

After John spoke, he bowed his head, unsure of how Zoe would react. He didn't know what else there was to say. Maybe there had been too much damage from Wrestlemania. Maybe, their relationship couldn't be fixed. But he waited a few agonising moments for her response and his heart sank when he heard her stand up from her chair. He didn't even want to look up if she was leaving. But to his surprise, a hand curled around his shoulder and a small body lowered itself to sit across his lap. He glanced up and a look of shock spread across his face as Zoe sat on him, a small smile on her own face. While it wasn't her biggest smile, it was a start, and Zoe hugged him around his shoulders, her face pressing against his neck, "I'm sorry too, Johnny."

His arms came to wrap around his younger cousin and John smiled, his dimples on show, "You don't need to be sorry, babygirl. I'm going to try and make it up to you, alright?"

Zoe lifted her head up to look at him, "You don't have to-"

"I want to." He brushed a strand of hair from her face and he patted her leg gently, urging her to get up, "Now, there's something else I want to talk to you about."

Zoe watched him, a frown on her face as he seemed to get more nervous. John edged closer to another door of the room and opened it, his head poking out to call someone inside. And as that person walked in, Zoe's heart sank. But no, she wasn't sad. Her anger spiked and she glared hard at her cousin, her next few words almost spat at the Boston native, "Are you fucking serious?"

John stilled at the foul language coming from his cousin. Over the past few weeks, he had noticed the changes in her and right now, that language was one of those changes. He held up his hands, walking towards his young cousin, "Zoe, hear me out. He is the next important person who upset you that weekend and I want you guys to work it out."

"See that's your problem right there," spat Zoe, her eyes still narrowed at her cousin. She didn't even bother to look at the other man in the room, "You want us to work it out. I don't want to work it out and clearly, he doesn't want to work it out."

"No, that's not true-"

"Yeah, it is, Cena."

John turned sharply to his left to shoot a look at his friend, "Punk, are you serious? You really don't want to patch things up with her-"

"I thought that was fairly obvious."

"I hate to agree with him but it's true."

John Cena stared at the former couple. Of course, the two most stubborn people in the world would have a relationship with each other. And now, they were both too stubborn to work it out. He looked heavenward for a second, wondering why he even bothered. There was silence and John stared back and forth between the two. Zoe and Punk remained silent, neither taking their eyes off each other and finally, Zoe threw her arms in the air, an angry growl escaping her, "I don't have time for this."

John reached forward, grabbing her arm, "Zoe, stop. You can't keep running away-"

Zoe ripped her arm out of his hold, "Yes, I damn well can. I don't have to speak to him. He made it very clear how he felt about me."

"He was just angry-"

"He made me out to be a whore and a backstabbing bitch."

There was even more silence and John turned to glare at his friend, "Are you going to say anything?"

CM Punk took in the sight before him. He had no idea what he was in for when John invited him over. He knew it was something bad when John pretty much snuck him into the house so Nikki didn't see him. She hadn't exactly been his biggest fan since Wrestlemania. And right now, as he looked between his former girlfriend and his best friend, he had no idea what to do. She was itching to get away and he was going to let her go. There was enough damage between the two of them that he honestly didn't care anymore what she did. She took off like the guilty one and Punk was left behind. He shook his head, an angry sneer slowly forming on his face, "I don't care. I don't know what you expected to achieve here, Cena. Did you think we'd fall back into each other's arms?"

John threw his hands in the air, "I just want you guys to talk!"

"Well we don't want to talk!" roared Punk, his frustration boiling over. He was so tired of it all. He couldn't care less.

"You mean after everything that you have heard about what happened in April, you still don't want to apologise?"

Punk looked at John like he was an idiot, "I'm going to apologise? For what? Where did you hear all this stuff, Cena? Her?"

John looked incredulously at his friend, "Wait, you still think she did all that?"

"She's not a stupid girl, Cena. She had to know everything that was going on. She knew about the Rock and you're trying to tell me she didn't know anything else?"

"She is standing right here!" exclaimed Zoe, her face red with anger as she watched the exchange between her cousin and exboyfriend, "She is tired of explaining herself to you people. You can choose what you want to believe!" She let out a bitter laugh, "My god Punk, did you ever trust me? Even when we were going out? Did you ever really think I wasn't part of this conspiracy against the talent?" She paused, looking at his face and her own face darkened, "Or did you only go out with me to make sure that you wouldn't be screwed over?"

Punk's jaw clenched and his blood was boiling at the whole situation. He was being made out to be the only one in the wrong. In his eyes, Zoe was also to blame for their falling out and he had just about had enough of the whole blame game, "I still got screwed over. So how's that for a waste of time."

"Enough!" roared John, stepping in front of Zoe before she could lunge at his friend, "What the fuck is wrong with you two?"

"You know what John I've had enough of this shit. You can play Super Cena all you want at work but don't try and pull it in our personal lives. Unless the woman you love screws you over, you have no business getting involved in our shit!"

As soon as the words were spoken, all three people in the room stared at one another and Zoe shook her head, disbelieving the words that had just come out of Punk's mouth. He had used love, not loved, and Zoe closed her eyes, shaking her head back and forth. She reopened them to see Punk staring at her, his own eyes wide with shock at his outburst. He didn't know what possessed him to say something like that and now it was too late. It was out there. For such a short relationship, Zoe had left that effect on him. Zoe stepped back, her eyes darting towards her cousin, "You don't get to do this. You don't get to use me again-"

"You know what?" interrupted Punk, his jaw still clenched, "Believe what you want. You can believe that I used you and I'll continue to believe you screwed me over. Until something occurs to disprove that, I'll let you get back to your pack of mutts. Have a nice life, Zoe." Within seconds, Zoe was out the door, and he sighed heavily, shaking his head at everything that had just happened. His emotions were all over the place. From the corner of his eye, he saw John Cena take a step towards him, his hand outstretched as if to pat him on the back, and Punk flinched from his friend, "Cena, get the fuck away from me."

"I just wanted to help-"

"You've done enough, Cena. Now stay the hell out of my life."

As Punk left quickly through the door, Nikki stepped inside, her eyes wide and confused at the two angry figures leaving the house she shared with John, "What the hell happened? Why is Punk here?" Her eyes widened even more as she put two and two together and she looked incredulously at her boyfriend, "Are you kidding me, John?"

"I just wanted to help-"

"What part of take it slow with your cousin did you not understand?!" cried Nikki, her arms folded across her chest, "Why the hell would you bring Punk as well? My god John, you just went one step forward and two steps back!" She threw her hands in the air, "You know what? I don't even want to know the mess you have caused now. Don't try and get me to fix it. This is your fault."

"Nicole, c'mon-"

"No, John! I got her here to talk to you and now she's not going to want to speak to either of us because she thinks we conspired to get Punk here together!" Nikki ran a hand through her long dark hair, "I'm going to go call her. So help me god John, if she doesn't pick up, I am never helping you again."

John Cena could do nothing but watch as his girlfriend left the room, her mind intent on calling his cousin and fixing the mess he seemed to have made. He buried his head in his hands, "What the hell have I done?"

* * *

><p>Zoe Winters stormed into Dean and Seth's apartment, her eyes burning with tears. She furiously swiped at them, willing the tears away. The apartment was quiet and she had noticed Seth's car was gone, so she assumed they were at Crossfit. She checked his room and it was empty, confirming her suspicions. She was slightly glad they weren't there right now. Glancing at the mountain of clothes and books on Seth's bed, she shook her head and tried Dean's room for somewhere to lie down. As she swung open the door, she noticed it was still dark in there and the curtains were closed. Zoe jumped upon hearing Dean's voice as he sat up in bed, "Zoe?"<p>

Zoe chewed her lip, her hand fiddling with the hem of her top, "Sorry, Dean. I thought you were out. I was just going to have a nap."

Dean groaned, his eyes blinking sleepily at her, "Nah, the others are out. I got a bit too trigger happy last night and needed my rest."

"Drank too much?" asked Zoe, a small smile curling her lips. The tapings had ended and they had a week and a bit off for Christmas, so the boys went out to celebrate the previous night with the rest of the roster. At his nod and groan, she laughed, but it sounded slightly strangled due to the growing need to sob, and Dean frowned at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You went to your cousins, didn't you?"

She had been debating it with the boys and they had advised her it was up to her, and they would support whatever she did. She had tried to ask for backup but they said it wasn't their fight and they weren't going to come in between family, "Yeah."

"Everything ok?"

"It was.. Then it wasn't."

"Why?" Dean heard her sniffle and he didn't have to be a genius to work out she wasn't up for explaining just yet. He tossed back the covers, patting the spot next to him, "Baby, come here."

The familiar term of endearment had Zoe bursting into tears, much to Dean's alarm. She stumbled to his bed, and Dean grabbed her, pulling her down into bed, his arms tight around her as he held her close, "Jesus, what the fuck happened over there?"

"Punk."

Dean groaned, pulling the covers over them to keep them warm. One of his arms was wrapped tightly under her shoulders while the other held her waist close to him. Zoe moved closer to the Ohio native, curling her fists into his tshirt, her face pressed against his neck. Dean felt her body shake against his and his anger for the current WWE Champion grew. Ever since they arrived to the main roster, all Zoe had done was cry or be withdrawn. He hated it more than anything. He rubbed her back gently, trying to get her to calm down. With her anxiety attacks already being a frequent occurrence, Dean was trying everything to make sure that that was not going to occur right now. As he felt her sobs subside, he thought it would be safe to try and talk to her, "What happened?"

"John had tricked Punk to be there and he wanted us to work it out."

Dean sighed. Trust John Cena to try and smooth over the situation. He shook his head, his chin brushing against her hair, "He was just trying to help."

"There's nothing to help."

He pulled back, looking down at her, confused, "Huh?"

Despite the tears stuck to her eyelashes and the soreness in her chest, Zoe couldn't help but smile at the confused face on Dean, "There's nothing to help. Punk and I.. I don't think it can be helped. If you don't trust someone, then you're never going to trust them." Her eyes caught sight of the wet patches on Dean's shirt and she tried to shuffle away, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't really drop this all on you. I'll let you nap." She tried to move away but Dean's arms stayed tight around her and he pulled her against his chest, his head buried in her hair, "Uh.. Deano?"

There was a grunt much to her amusement, "Just stay here, Sunshine." Zoe bit back a giggle at the mumble, but she curled closer to him, her mood slowly lifting. There was a pause before Dean spoke again, "Want me to beat him up?"

She snorted, her laughter filling the room and Dean couldn't help the wide smile that split his face, "Dean.."

"I can make it look like an accident."

Her laughter only grew and Dean knew then he and the boys needed to make sure she remained this happy. There was going to be no more crying on her part. They were going to make her happy again.

* * *

><p>Zoe didn't realise how long she had been asleep for, or even the fact she'd fallen asleep. She had been woken up by the sudden dip in the bed caused by two bodies making themselves comfortable on top of the covers. She bit back a smile as Roman Reigns curled around the back of her, and Seth Rollins flung himself across her and Dean's legs, his head resting against her thigh. She laughed at the look of annoyance on Dean's face as he too started to slowly wake up due to the unwelcomed weight on his legs.<p>

"Seth, what the fuck?"

"Are we having a slumber party?"

"Get the fuck off me."

Seth refused to budge and he nuzzled his head against Zoe's blanket covered thigh, a small smile on his face, "I'm quite comfortable right here."

Zoe let out a laugh, her body shaking in amusement, "You're special, Seth." The brunette smiled as Roman's arms wrapped tighter around her, "I think we should do this more often."

Dean's eyes flung open before narrowing at the teasing look on Zoe's face, "No, no it should not happen more often." His hands brushed against Roman's arms that were wrapped around Zoe and he sent a look to his team mate, "Ro', I was here first."

Roman smirked, his head lifting up to send a challenging look to Dean, "There's plenty of room and I don't hear her complaining."

Zoe laughed again as both of Dean's arms wrapped tighter around her, while Roman's right arm clung to her tightly over the blankets. She let out a loud giggle and snort when she spied Seth's arm swinging up and landing on her chest, his hand reaching out to grope her.

"Seth, that's my breast!"

"Dude, second base and I wasn't even trying- Okay, OW!" The young Creative writer watched as Seth shook his hand, trying to relieve the sting from the slap Roman gave it for being in an inappropriate position. She sighed, curling tighter in between the two men, her other hand reaching out to clutch Seth's stinging hand. Seth frowned, lifting his head slightly to look at Zoe, and his frown deepened at the dried tear tracks on her face, "Zoe, what happened?"

When she failed to answer due to the overwhelming urge to burst into tears, Dean grunted a response, his hand that was tucked under her head pulling her to bury her head against his neck, "She went to see John and John decided to kill two birds with one stone and brought Punk along as well."

Roman let out a low whistle, his hand rubbing along Zoe's side soothingly in an effort to comfort her, "I take it that it didn't end well." He watched as Zoe shook her head against Dean's neck and he sighed, shaking his head, "What do you want us to do, Zoe?"

Zoe pulled her head back from Dean's warm neck, and tilted her head to glance at Roman, her eyebrow raised, "What do you mean?"

"You've been upset ever since we came to Raw," said Roman. It wasn't a false statement. They had all noticed it. Being backstage at Raw was clearly uncomfortable at times for the young girl. They also had noticed that her carefree attitude from NXT was gone and instead, she was always on edge and seemed to be very uncomfortable near some talent. The boys had worked out that this talent must have been part of her former friend group. Roman brushed his hand up and down her arm, "Zoe, we know it's been shit for you on the road. We just want to know how to make you happy again."

"I don't want to drag you guys into it," said Zoe, a hand reaching up to brush a tear away, "You guys are honestly helping me just being the way you are. Sure, I get a bit upset backstage but as soon as we leave and I'm with you guys, I forget everything and I'd just like to keep it that way." She smiled as Seth reached up with his free hand to also wipe a tear away, and almost poke her in the eye. Zoe watched as he crawled off the bed and disappeared for a few minutes, "I can't thank you guys enough for the past few months. You've really made it better for me-"

"But we are going to try and make it even better," said Roman, pinching her hip to hear her giggle, his lips curling into a smile, "Trust us, you'll go back to the crazy Zoe we knew a few months ago."

The young Boston native laughed as Seth re-entered Dean's bedroom with four bowls of icecream, and the Shield rearranged themselves to sit up on the bed, each taking a bowl to eat, "You guys are going to make me fat."

"That's how we like our girls. With some junk in their-"

"Do not finish that sentence, Ambrose. For the love of god, don't."

* * *

><p><span>25th December, 2012<span>

The WWE had organised a twelve day break for the crew to celebrate Christmas with their families, with the intention that they return on the 31st of December to film RAW. They had completed other tapings to tide them over for the break and everyone was excited to return home to their familes.

All except Zoe.

After much debating and arguing, Roman Reigns had pretty much carried Zoe to the boarding gate, after she refused to detach her arms from around Seth Rollin's neck. Despite the purple colour Seth was going, Zoe was adamant she was not going back to Boston for Christmas on the grounds that she didn't want to see her cousin. In her own words, 'He probably wrapped up Punk in a fucking Xmas bag!' which only caused Roman to roll his eyes as he manhandled her to the boarding gate. He planted a kiss on her head and pushed her towards the gate with the sentiment of 'You'll be fine, Princess.'

Zoe was anything but fine.

It was Christmas Day and she was sitting at the island bench in her mother's kitchen, glaring pointedly at the Winters matriarch. Her mother was being way too cheerful for Christmas and Zoe knew that she was hiding the fact that the Cena family were coming. Lisa spun around to place something in the oven before she rolled her eyes at the glare on her daughter's face, "Oh good lord, Zoe. Will you stop with the grinch look?"

"Is John coming?"

Lisa placed her hand on her hip, a dishcloth hanging loosely from her fingers, "Does it matter? You're still going to be mad at him whether he is here or not." Zoe had recounted the story of her interaction with John at his house and how he had sprung Punk on her. Her mother was not amused at the appearance of Punk but she did commend her nephew on trying to apologise to her daughter. Even though he then royally screwed it up. She sighed turning back to get the Christmas lunch ready, "Try and play nice, Zoe. I dont want Christmas to end with you throwing the turkey at John's head."

Zoe smirked at her mother, "I hadn't thought of that till now."

Lisa glared at her daughter, "Zoe, I'm warning you."

Zoe held up her hands in surrender, noticing the Cena glare on her mother's face. She rolled her eyes as the doorbell rang, "Ugh, let it begin!" Her mother swatted her with the dishcloth and Zoe hopped off the stool to go answer the door.

Today was going to be fun.

* * *

><p>John Cena knew when he was being ignored. And judging by the smirk and 'I told you so' look on Nikki's face, he knew that she had noticed it as well. He had spent the majority of Christmas lunch at his aunt Lisa's being ignored by his younger cousin, Zoe. After he thought they'd made great progress the other week, obviously she was still holding the fact he had confronted her with Punk against him. He took a sip from his beer watching as Zoe talked with her sister in law Sarah. He failed to notice the man that sidled up next to him.<p>

"So what did you do to Zoe?"

John shot a glance at his cousin standing next to him, "What makes you say that?"

Scott let out a chuckle, "She's been ignoring you pointedly. Also, she disappeared for over 6 months and that boyfriend of hers is missing from today's festivities." He took a sip from his own beer, his eyes looking towards his sister, "She also may have told her 6 year old niece that they were going to have a bonfire with all her CM Punk tshirts."

At that, John had to snort. Trust his cousin to be violent like that. He turned to his cousin Scott and sighed, "Work kinda screwed everything up."

Scott nodded, "Mom told me the basics of it but I still don't get it." After John launched into an almost ten minute spiel about the entire saga, Scott just stood there, his eyes wide, "Why you two couldn't get normal jobs is beyond me."

John rolled his eyes, "No matter how painful it can be, you're always going to do the thing you love."

"So wait, why are you still in the doghouse? Shouldn't you have tried to apologise a million times, Super Cena?"

The former WWE Champion rolled his eyes again at the teasing name from his cousin. He looked momentarily sheepish before explaining to Scott, "I may have staged an intervention at my house between her and Punk, whilst using my own intervention with her as an excuse to get her there."

"So straight after you apologised, you got her exboyfriend who continuously antagonises her to confront her?" At John's nod, Scott let out a low whistle, "Way to go, Dr Phil." He glanced up as Zoe disappeared into the house and he punched John's shoulder, "Now in the spirit of the holidays, I'm not going to punch you in the face. But you are going to go inside and apologise to Zoe. Right now." Zoe's brother pushed against John's shoulder, sending the man slightly stumbling towards the door. He shot a look back over at Scott, but he only raised an eyebrow at John and John sighed. He knew he had to go talk to her sometime soon.

He found her in the kitchen pulling out the desserts that had been prepared. She glanced up when she heard his footsteps and he noticed her shoulders immediately tense at his presence, "Zoe, can I have a word with you?" She didn't answer but instead decided to check all the cupboards and the fridge like she was looking for something. He raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"Checking to see if you've hidden Punk anywhere."

He deserved that. John sighed, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, "Zoe, c'mon, I'm sorry for what happened."

Zoe stopped what she was doing and leant back against the kitchen bench opposite John, "Are you sorry because it didn't work out for you?"

"No, I'm sorry that I tried to get too involved in your life." He watched as her face slightly crumpled, obviously her mind was replaying the encounter, "I just wanted to see you happy, that's all. Punk used to make you happy-"

"That's the thing," interrupted Zoe, "He used to make me happy. He doesn't make me happy anymore."

"I know and that's why I wanted you guys to talk. You guys are miserable and irritable without each other and I thought even if you didn't get back together, as long as you came to some understanding, then you'd go back to being alright." He ran a hand over his short hair, "I'm so sorry. I just wanted what I thought was best."

"Sometimes it's not as easy to forgive and forget, John. I get what you were trying to do but you need only concern yourself with your issue with me. That's it. Forget about everyone else-"

"You're my cousin. You're like my sister-"

"But I'm not your sister, John." She shook her head at his startled and upset look, "Don't get me wrong. I am touched by everything you try and do to make my life better and easier but I'm not a kid. I'm an adult and I can work things out for myself in my own time."

John nodded, his foot tapping against the floor, "This isn't me trying to push anything but..He still loves you, you know. And I still think you love him."

"I don't know what I feel, John," said Zoe, shaking her head, "I'm too angry and hurt to even think of him like that. But I think I still care about him. Some small part of me does."

"Will you try and talk to him?"

Zoe shook her head, "Not for a long time. I think it's too soon."

"It's been 8 months."

She shot him a look, "Did you not see World War Three that almost erupted at your house?"

John chuckled, stepping closer to his cousin, "Alright, I'm sorry. I'll let it go." He held out his arms, "Sorry?"

Zoe rolled her eyes at the cheesy grin on his face and she wrapped her arms around his waist, her head buried against his chest, "Love you."

"Love you too, Zo'."

* * *

><p><span>31st December, 2012<span>

Zoe Winters was 100% sure that the kind of high pitched squark she just heard was not supposed to come out of a man. She had just arrived to the arena for the Raw taping. Since it was New Year's Eve, the WWE Management had decided to make the show earlier in the evening so that celebrations could continue afterwards. She had barely stepped foot into the monitor bay before she heard the obscure noise and her head turned just in time to see a blur of blonde and black come flying at her.

Seth Rollins completely tackled her to the ground, an excited grin on his face and Zoe laughed, wrapping her arms tightly around the young man's neck, squeezing him tight as they lay there on the floor, "You're such a child, Seth. God help us when the Shield breaks up. Dean and Roman will have to share custody of you."

He lifted his head to grin at her, before leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek, his beard tickling her face, "So did you miss me?"

"Did you miss me?"

Her own smile grew at the large grin on his face, "Always."

She rolled her eyes, pushing on his shoulder to get him off of her before another voice entered the conversation, "Jesus, Rollins, what have I told you about manhandling the staff?"

Zoe grinned at Paul Levesque as he stood beside Roman Reigns, who offered her a hand to help her up, "Hey Paul. How was your break?"

"Eventful. I was Santa for a day. And before you ask, no I did not miss you."

She laughed, "I'm sure Stephanie did."

"Yes she did actually. Which is why I came to find you before.. this happened," He shot an exasperated look at Seth, "She needs some help with tonight's scripts. I know it's not your territory anymore, but the girl who replaced you is still on break, so she could really use a hand.. Please."

Zoe smiled, patting his arm gently, "I'll go find her. She's tearing out her hair isn't she?"

"Exactly why I volunteered to find you rather than just call you."

The young Creative writer giggled, pressing a kiss to Roman's cheek as a way of greeting him after the long break. She squeezed his arm, "I'll see you later, alright?" At his nod, she disappeared down the hallway in the direction Paul had pointed her in and she kept a look out for Stephanie's office. As she turned down another corridor, she noticed a figure approaching her and her smile widened, her legs setting off in a run towards the tall man. As her heels clicked across the concrete floor, he looked up from checking his phone to see her come fllying towards him and he opened his arms to catch her against his chest. She smiled, her arms wrapping around his neck as his own arms tightened around her waist, spinning her around. Her voice was muffled against his neck, "I missed you." Zoe didn't know what it was about these Shield boys but she was slowly realising that they were becoming a big part of her life much like her former friends had, but this time, she was sure it would turn out good.

Dean Ambrose grinned, setting her down on the floor. He loosened his arms around her waist and leaned back to look down at her, "Look at you being all sentimental, Sunshine." She swatted his chest and he laughed, "Yeah I missed you too, don't you worry." He frowned as she pulled away from him to continue her way down the corridor, "Hey lady! Where are you going?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, pinching his arm, "Relax your flaps, Ambrose. I know you just want me to hang around to give you the goss from Christmas." The tell tale smile on his face only confirmed her suspicions and she giggled, stepping away from him, "Let me go help Steph and I'll find you guys after, alright?" At Dean's nod, she eventually made her way to Stephanie's office and knocked on the door. The strangled 'come in' only made Zoe laugh as she entered to find Stephanie almost buried under paperwork, "Hey Steph."

"Oh thank god," cried Stephanie, "Clearly my idiot husband found you. He disappeared as soon as I even uttered the word help. Apparently paperwork is what scares Triple H." She pushed a pile towards Zoe, waving her hand to take a seat, "Ok, just go through these and let me know if we need anything else added to it. More promos or whatever I don't care. Thank you so so much-"

Zoe held up a hand, "It's fine Steph. I can see you are stressed and it's the least I can do."

Stephanie smiled at the young writer, "I know you're not ready for it just yet but I am dying to have you back on the team again as a full time writer."

She reached a hand up to brush a stray strand of hair, an embarassed look on her face, "I really wasn't all that great-"

"You were amazing, Zoe. Don't let anyone tell you differently." Steph turned her attention back to another pile of papers, "Oh and also, later after the show, I want to have a run through with you about the next few weeks with the Shield and Punk." At Zoe's slightly startled look, Stephanie held up a hand reassuringly, "I'll do it in the monitor bay so there are other people present. Punk has been put on a warning so I can assure you that he will... try to be on his best behaviour."

"You said that so convincingly," quipped Zoe, drily.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, laughing, "You never know with that one. He's more PMS-y than the rest of us women."

Zoe snorted, "You have no idea."

* * *

><p>As the Raw show came to an end, the backstage area was filled with a few people, including the Shield. They were sitting on some chairs in the monitor bay watching the end of the show, whilst Zoe perched herself on Dean's lap, her arm hanging loosely across the top of his shoulders. She was trying very hard to ignore the look that Punk was sending her from where he sat a few metres away. He had also been called to the meeting and Zoe was none too happy about it. She noticed John Cena was lurking around as well and she tried not to laugh at the fact he was trying to look incognito to her. As she chatted with the Shield, she heard some hurried footsteps come closer. She turned her head and noticed Steph standing there looking slightly frazzled. Zoe raised an eyebrow, "Everything alright, Steph?"<p>

"I am so so sorry. I should've told you earlier but he just dropped in and wanted to be involved with everything."

Zoe looked confused as to who Stephanie was talking about and she stood up, her hand resting on the back of Dean's chair, "Uh, Steph? You're not making any sense-" She never got to finish her sentence as a loud drawl occurred behind her, causing Zoe to freeze in place at the recognition of whose voice it was.

"Well, well, well, look who came crawling back or did your cousin do the crawling for you?"

* * *

><p>AN: I'm sure you can all guess who that is! Hope you enjoyed :)


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I own none of the WWE Superstars or Divas featured within this story. Only the OCs and storyline is mine.

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, favourites, follows etc. I do hope you all like this latest installment! Also, it's mammoth length so enjoy :)

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><p><span>31st December, 2012<span>

"Well, well, well, look who came crawling back or did your cousin do the crawling for you?"

Zoe Winters could pretty much feel the heavy beating of her heart in her chest. Standing right before her with his Hollywood smile was The Rock. The same man who had continuously placed little doubts in her mind about her friends and family, and who was opposed to everything she tried to work for and change in this company. She cast a glance at Stephanie, who still looked frazzled and apologetic, before turning her attention back to the man also known as Dwayne Johnson, "Mr Johnson, how lovely it is to see you."

The Rock's smirk only got wider at her smart tone, "Oh c'mon Miss Winters. Don't act like you haven't missed me."

"I haven't." She could sense Dean and Seth stand from their chairs to stand behind her and she wished she could've told them to sit down, because the Rock looked beside himself with glee at the protective nature of the two men.

"Well would you look at that? You've got new pets to play with! Tell me, do they have titles yet or haven't they worked you hard for them yet?"

Zoe's hands moved quickly to halt Seth and Dean from moving towards the older man. The last thing she needed was for them to attack Vince McMahon's golden child and they would be carted back to NXT for good. Her face twisted into her own smrik, "Tell me Rocky, why are you here? Is it time for your annual 'let's see how far you can stick your head up Vince's ass'?"

"There's not enough room with your cousin all up in there."

The dark haired woman took a step forward, anger coursing through her, "That's a bit rich coming from you."

The Rock chuckled, his arms crossing over his chest, "So what brings you back Princess? Don't tell me you're helping out with my storyline."

Stephanie cut in, "No she's not part of your storyline, Dwayne. Now can we leave this alone? We have work to do."

The Hollywood star ignored the young McMahon daughter, his eyes still trained on the young woman in front of him, "Oh thank god for that. I don't think I could've handled your personal vendetta against me again."

From behind Zoe, Dean and Seth shared a look with one another before looking over their shoulders at a silent Roman Reigns. The duo had remembered that the Rock was Roman's cousin and they were all watching the exchange with curiousity. Zoe had failed to mention to them her interactions with the Rock. She had only mentioned that some of the roster had used her, but now the Rock was painting a very different picture and they weren't sure what the hell was going on. Roman had yet to move from his seat, his eyes trained on the interaction in front of him. He knew his cousin. Sure, he was family, but at the end of the day, he remembered his father's words to him about coming to the WWE. He had been repeatedly told to not let it get to him like it had to others. And as he watched his cousin berate and harass the woman in front of him, Roman knew what his father had meant.

Zoe hadn't noticed the looks shared by her three friends behind her but her body stilled at the accusation from the Rock. She didn't dare turn to see what the three members of the Shield must be thinking. Her eyes took in her surroundings at the many people gathered around, watching the stand off between the Hollywood star and the WWE Creative writer. She needed to stop them from believing him, "I didn't have a personal vendetta against you. I just didn't think you deserved to win at Wrestlemania. It was what was best for the company."

The Rock snorted in disbelief at her words, "You're trying to tell me right now that I'm not good for business? Lady, I made those ratings for all the PPVs I've been on. For all the shows I've been on, I've gotten them the highest ratings. And you're telling me that you would rather have me lose than win. Is that best for business or best for your little game of one upping me." He paused, shaking his head with a laugh, "You wanted to do what was best for the company? You spent the whole first half of your employment trying to stop your cousin from winning because it was best for the company. But on the biggest stage of them all, you had to let him win."

"Because I didn't want you to win," snapped Zoe.

"Because it was best for business or because you disliked me?" As the words sunk into Zoe, she hesitated her response for the slightest of moments but the Rock noticed it immediately and the shit eating grin was back on his face, "Face it, Miss Winters. You're exactly like the McMahons. You pick and choose your favourites. Whether it be your family, friends or boyfriend- oh exboyfriend I found out a while ago. I bet you played to these guys the whole sob story that your friends used you but at the end of the day, you'd screw anyone over just to keep whoever is your friend of the moment happy. Don't tell me I'm wrong. You don't think I noticed that when you hated Punk, you screwed him over. But when you guys were in love-" He momentarily looked nauseous much to Zoe's annoyance, "He was WWE Champion and maineventing." He flicked his eyes back towards Dean and Seth, "What's going to happen to your new flavour of the months when you get tired of them, huh? Or when they upset you? C'mon Zoe, don't play the innocent card-"

"That's enough!"

The third voice made Zoe and Dwayne still and Zoe watched as Dwayne looked shocked at the interrupting voice, "Roman?"

The tall Samoan stood up from his chair, stepping forward to stand in front of Zoe. He had had enough. He could see Zoe slowly shaking and ready to fall apart and he knew he had to step in and stop his cousin from his word assault on the girl, "Back off Dwayne."

Dwayne looked stunned by his cousin's need to defend the young woman. He stared incredulously at Roman, "Are you serious, Roman?! You're really going to take her side."

"I know what you're like sometimes Dwayne-"

"Do you know what she's like, Ro'?" exclaimed Dwayne, his arm outstretched towards Zoe, "Can you honestly tell me that you really know what she's like? After everything that happened around here when she was here?" In front of him, Roman hesitated slightly, his glance wavering between Zoe and The Rock, and The Rock's smirk returned to his face, "Ooooh, you didn't know the whole story, did you?"

"I knew enough," snapped Roman.

The Rock tilted his head back, letting out a small laugh, "Did she pull the whole 'I tried to change things around here for the better'? That was her whole punchline when at the end of the day, she only changed things around to benefit her-"

"Dwayne, that is enough!" yelled Stephanie, "You have said enough. There is no need to get into this all again."

"But-"

"Hey! Just shut the fuck up Hollywood!"

There was stunned silence as CM Punk stepped forward, his WWE title thrown over his shoulder. Everyone gathered in the monitor area stared at the Champion as he stepped towards the Rock, a scowl on his face. The Rock raised an eyebrow, a smirk curling his lips again, "Sticking up for her so you can get back in her good books to keep that title from me?"

"I'm not sticking up for her. I'm just telling you to shut up because everyone here is tired of listening to your self righteous bullshit. We get it. You're Vince McMahon's favourite toy, now shut up." He turned to look at Stephanie McMahon, who was clinging onto her husband's arm preventing him from coming in between the Rock and CM Punk. Despite all his ill feelings towards his former girlfriend, Punk had watched the exchange in interest and then with growing dread as Zoe seemed shaken up at the accusations the Rock was throwing his way. Just like Roman, he had to put a stop to the words and ideas that the Rock was pushing into her mind. There was just something about the way she looked at his accusations that made Punk uneasy about her involvement all those months ago. He shook his head and readjusted his title on his shoulder, "Now are we going to get this meeting underway? I'm fucking tired as hell and I know this isn't going to end pretty."

Stephanie nodded, pushing Paul gently forward to dismiss the Superstars and Divas that weren't needed. John Cena cast a hesitant glance at his cousin, making sure she was alright, but Zoe nodded at him, reassuring him that she would be fine. In reality, she was not. As The Shield, Zoe, Stephanie, Paul, Punk, The Rock and now Paul Heyman pulled up chairs in a circle to discuss the outline for the upcoming Royal Rumble Pay Per View, Zoe couldn't even look at her friends. She kept her seat a little bit away from them. Normally, her and Seth would have their seats pressed together, leaning against each other's shoulders. Seth Rollins noticed immediately her absence from his side and also the fact she was avoiding looking at them. He sent a questioning glance to Dean, who shrugged his shoulders, his own frown furrowing his brows at the state of their friend.

Zoe closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing for a moment before an anxiety attack occured. Her heart was pounding in her chest. All she could think about was what happened months before when the others thought the worst of her. She had to give it to the Rock, he had spun the story well enough to make her look terrible. She knew that she'd only given the Shield her side of things and now that they had heard what the Rock had said, she was terrified that they would take into account what he said. But even after everything he said, realisation dawned on Zoe that she had done it again. She had gotten too close with the Superstars. Those three boys were in her life now. And the last thing she needed was to be accused of favouritism again. Or worse, what would happen with them if she had to drop someone or push only one of them. She couldn't risk losing these guys. She knew she needed to distance herself again. It would hurt, but she needed to do it to avoid losing them completely just like she had the others. With her breathing somewhat under control, she took part in the meeting that was currently underway.

"Alright, so for the Royal Rumble, we have a title match between CM Punk and The Rock." Stephanie tried in vain to ignore the snort from CM Punk and she continued on, "We will have the Shield interfering with the lights out and Punk will get the win. But he will be stripped of his title and given to Rock."

CM Punk snapped his head up at the announcement and he frowned at Stephanie. He looked at Paul, and saw that the ends of his lips were slightly curled up and it dawned on him what they had done. They didn't want the Rock to win cleanly. He tried to hide his smirk and slouched down in his seat, his eyes dancing in mirth at the angry look on Dwayne Johnson's face. The Rock spluttered for words, "He gets stripped and I just get the title? No pin, no nothing."

"Nope," said Paul, trying hard not to smirk at the man in front of him. As far as his father in law was concerned, they were going to let the Rock win, but on their own terms. He glanced at the Shield, who were sitting with their arms crossed over their chests, "You boys alright with that?"

Dean shrugged, "Whatever is best for business."

Stephanie nodded, sending a small smile to Zoe, who tried her hardest to return one back. But Stephanie saw through it straight away and she glanced at her husband worriedly. He frowned, before turning his attention to the Rock, who had stood up quickly from his spot, "Everything alright, Dwayne?" The Rock nodded stiffly before disappearing down the corridor. Stephanie raised an eyebrow, "Ok, he didn't chuck a fit. Now I'm worried. Anyway you are all dismissed. See you all on Friday."

The group all stood up to leave and Zoe tried her hardest not to get too worked up over what she thought the Shield thought of her now. She only prayed that they didn't react like her former friends had. But deep down she knew that she had gotten involved too deep again. Something she swore she wouldn't do, but somehow the Shield had wormed their way into her day to day life and now she feared the worst. She needed to get out before it escalated. She had no idea what they thought but it was better if she just took off for the night. As they entered the locker room, she hurried around the room, intending on avoiding any confrontation with them. As she reached for her bag, she felt a hand on her elbow, halting her movements, "What?" She choked out, the urge to cry thickening her throat.

Seth frowned, his dark eyes filled with worry at the state of his friend, "Babe, what's wrong?"

She tugged her elbow out of his grasp, her hands shakily throwing her bag over her shoulder. She kept her head down, not wanting to look Seth in the eye, "I know what you guys must be thinking. I get that it looks bad-"

"Zoe, you need to calm down," said Seth, gently, his hand reaching out to steady her shaky shoulders.

"No," she exclaimed, stepping out of his grip, "You guys believe him, I know it-"

"No, we don't," said Seth, shaking his head, "Sure, it had us a bit stunned, but we don't believe him."

"Don't lie to me!"

Seth was stunned at her outburst. He cast a glance over his shoulder at Dean and Roman, who both looked equally as stunned by her outburst. It was starting to make sense to Seth, however. He realised this is what happened when she left the WWE originally. Her friends lost trust in her and accused her of things that she didn't do, and right now, he could see that she was terrified they were going to do the same thing to her. He stepped closer to her, his heart dropping as she took a step back from him, "We're not lying to you, Zo'."

Zoe shook her head, "Yes you are-"

"Yes, we are, is that what you want to hear?"

"Dean!" yelled Seth, turning around to look at his friend, incredulously.

Dean stepped towards Zoe, his protective vest unzipped, "That's what you want to hear, isn't it? You want us to lie to you. You want us to say we believed him. Hell yeah, I'm not going to lie, I believed him for a second. But considering how much I know you, I realised that what he said isn't who you are." He leant closer to her, his eyes narrowing at her, "We know you're not that type of person. But if you really think that we would think you're exactly what he said, then lady, you have a problem."

Roman stepped forward, pulling on Dean's arm, "Dean, stop-"

Dean pulled his arm out of Roman's grasp, "No, you want to play the victim? FINE! I'm not a dumb guy, Zoe. I figured out what happened. You went on some crusade with the McMahons trying to change everything around here, but Zoe, you're one girl. And clearly, you forgot that. And even your friends forgot that too. So at the end of the day, when it all went to pieces they turned on you because they only knew one side of the story." He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes flashing with anger, "Hell, look at tonight. If we hadn't of heard you, Paul and Stephanie tell us one side before, then hell yeah, I would've been thinking the Rock had a point. But after listening to both sides, it makes sense what happened. So maybe instead of hiding, you could go talk to your friends and sort this shit out because sunshine, I am sick of seeing you crying! You need to sort this shit out because it's not healthy for you-"

"I tried to tell them!" cried Zoe, her eyes wide in disbelief at the outburst by Dean Ambrose.

Dean stepped closer to her, his face still in a scowl, "When?! Huh? On the night that shit went down? You didn't even know what happened so what the hell did you try to convince them with? And then you took off! Just like you were about to do now! Do you know how guilty you look? If we didn't know you better... If we didn't know everything that had gone on, then I would've thought the same as them. But right now, you were about to toss us to the side like trash just to save yourself and make you look like the victim. You're not the only victim, Zoe. Everyone in this company is and until everything is cleared up, you're going to continue to feel as shit as I know you've been feeling the past few weeks." He paused, shaking his head, his voice softening, "You can think we believed him. You can think whatever you want, but I would've thought that our girl would know us better and not think we are scum like the Rock." He turned on his heel and stormed into the shower area, slamming the door closed.

Zoe stood there, her mouth opened in slight shock at the outburst from Dean Ambrose. She deserved it 100%. She knew she shouldn't have reacted the way she did. But based on her past track record, she just didn't want to face the devestation that was her friends accusing her. She glanced at Roman and Seth, who were looking at her sadly. She shook her head, "I'll leave you guys to it. I'm sorry."

As the door slammed behind her, Seth looked at Roman, shaking his head, "She's messed up, man. She really thought we'd turn our back on her."

Roman sighed, heavily, raking a hand through his dark hair, "My cousin was a part of this. He's an asshole and I think he was the one that initially messed with her first."

"You gonna talk to him?" Roman nodded and Seth scoffed, "You really think he's going to come clean to you about what he did, when he knows how chummy you are with Zoe?"

Roman's lips curled into a small smirk, "Unless he thinks his little stunt worked tonight." Seth matched his smirk, before they turned to look at the door Zoe had just disappeared through, "We will give her the night to cool off-" He cast a glance at the door Dean disappeared through, "And him to cool off. And then we will find her in the morning. I hate seeing her so upset. I don't think she's truly been happy the whole time we've been here."

Seth sighed, shaking his head, "Yeah, me either."

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><p>In hindsight, it was the worst move ever for Zoe to leave the Shield. She had no way of getting back to the hotel and her room was shared with the Shield members. Zoe sighed sadly, stopping to lean back against a wall and calm her breathing down. It was only a few moments before she felt fingers curl around her hand and another small hand reached up to wipe some of her tears. Zoe opened her eyes and was surprised by the young woman next to her, "April?"<p>

AJ Lee smiled gently, "C'mon, I heard what happened. Let's get you back to the hotel." The small Diva guided her down the hall and out into the carpark, the cool air hitting their faces hard. They made a dash for AJ's rental, which was running, much to Zoe's surprise. She dived into the backseat, her mouth opening in surprise at the sight of Kaitlyn in the driver's seat.

"Kaitlyn?"

"Hey Zoe, right? AJ told me about you. You alright?"

"I've been better," said Zoe. She leaned forward through the middle console, glancing at AJ, "Don't you stay with Ziggler?"

"He's having a man's night with Mike and co initiating Big E to the main roster," explained AJ. She paused, a small frown on her face, "That actually sounds quite bad. But I don't ask questions and he doesn't tell, so we're good."

Zoe let out a small laugh, momentarily forgetting about the exchange with the Shield, "Thanks for the lift."

"No problem," chirped AJ, her bubbly nature coming through, "We're having a girl's night. You can stay with us. Brie and Nikki are coming as well!"

Zoe nodded, resting back in her seat, trying in vain to get her mind off of what just occured in the locker room. Dean had never spoken to her that way. But he was right. She shouldn't have reacted the way she did and she only hoped that the Shield would forgive her. But right now, she needed some time to herself to sort herself out. And maybe a night with the girls would do her some good.

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><p>"Do you enjoy making girls cry, Ambrose?"<p>

Dean looked slightly startled by the angry Bella twin at his hotel room door, "Well hello to you too.. whichever Bella twin you are."

"It's Nicole."

"Pleasure." He rolled his eyes as she pushed past him to enter their hotel room, "You're welcome to join us." He closed the hotel room door, following the brunette into the room. Seth and Roman looked just as amused by the appearance of the Bella twin and Nicole smiled at them tightly, before turning on her heel to face Dean, arms crossed over her chest.

"FYI, some of us heard your lovely talk with Zoe." Seth snorted at the fact Dean was about to get his ass handed to him by a Bella twin and Nikki turned to glare at the two toned man, "And don't get me started on you two. Way to have your girl's back, guys." She ignored the pout on Seth's face and the gobsmacked look on Roman's and turned back to Dean.

Dean crossed his own arms over his chest, a scowl on his face, "FYI, that was a private conversation."

If looks could kill, Dean would be six foot under at the glare that Nikki shot him, "A private conversation that you decided to scream about in an arena full of people." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "You're lucky AJ found her when she took off. God knows what state she would've ended up in this time."

"I was only telling her the truth-"

"In such a tactful way-"

"Lady, did you have a better idea? Because your little intervention with your boyfriend and her ended in disaster that I had my arms full of a hysterically crying girl that afternoon!"

Nicole threw her hands in the air, "You know that wasn't my idea for Punk to be there!" She raked a hand through her hair, "I get that you were trying to make her see reason but she's sensitive. Look at all that has happened. You can't go acting like that."

"And she can't go around accusing us like she did." He paused, shaking his head, "Why are you here anyway?"

"I need you to apologise to her," explained Nikki, "She needs you guys in her life. You're all she has right now, really."

Dean shrugged, "If she listened to anything I said, she should have all of you back soon." His tone sounded hurt even to his own ears. He knew he shouldn't have yelled at her the way he did but he had to get through to her. However, when he had exited the bathroom, he had noticed her absence and his gut filled with dread. He regretted it instantaneously, thinking that she might never come back to them, or even forget about them once she went back to her old friends.

Nikki tilted her head, her eyes looking curiously at the man in front of her and it dawned on her, "You think she's going to replace you with us?" She let out a small laugh, "Oh c'mon Ambrose. I speak to her on the phone regularly now and you should hear how she speaks about you boys. Sure, we were her friends first, but you guys were there to pick her up when she was broken down. You've slowly brought her back to being the Zoe I know she is. And despite the fact I hate that you screamed at her, I think you gave her the wake up call she needs." She glanced at all three men before turning to head for the door. Nikki paused, looking back over her shoulder, "She's going to get us back but don't think she's going to replace you guys. You guys are a lot more special to her than you might think. Have a good night, boys."

Seth let out a low whistle, "I like her."

Roman rolled his eyes before looking over at Dean, "Tomorrow morning?"

Dean nodded, "Tomorrow morning."

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><p><span>1st January, 2013<span>

Zoe could hear the whispers as she slowly started to wake up. She'd fallen asleep in AJ's double bed and stayed over night with the small Diva and Kaitlyn. The girls night had been a hit and had lasted till all hours of the morning before Brie and Nikki headed back to their rooms. She had needed the night with the girls. Especially the ones that she had left all those months ago. Her ears pricked up at the sound of male voices and she tried not to get her hopes up at who it was. She felt the bed dip on either side of her and as wrong it sounded, she recognised the scents around her immediately. She peeked her eyes open to see Dean scoot under the covers on AJ's vacant side and he lay down next to her, his face nuzzled against her cheek, and judging by the large tattooed arm that was flung across her waist, she knew Roman was behind her. A loud laugh left her lips as Seth flung himself on top of her, his face buried into her neck, "Guys, aren't I the one that's supposed to be apologising?"

"We're sorry," grumbled Seth, his beard tickling her neck.

"We got our ass handed to us by a Bella twin."

"Which one?" laughed Zoe, reaching a hand up from the blankets to curl around Seth's neck, and tangle her fingers in his hair.

"The mean one."

Zoe giggled, before smiling sadly at the three men surrounding her, "I'm sorry too."

Roman grunted, lifting his head to catch Dean's eye, "Isn't there something you need to say?" Dean feigned sleep and Roman rolled his eyes, lifting his arm from under Seth's body to reach over and smack Dean across the head.

The former CZW wrestler lifted his head, his eyes narrowed at the Samoan. He rolled his eyes before burying his head back against Zoe's cheek, "I'm sorry I'm an asshole."

She smiled, turning her head slightly to face Dean, "I kinda deserved it."

"You did."

Roman groaned from Zoe's other side, "DEAN!"

Zoe let out another laugh as Roman reached over to smack Dean again. While the two bickered over the top of her, she cast a look at Seth, who was resting his chin on the top of his hand, a small smile on his face, "We still good?" Zoe nodded and Seth grinned, leaning down to kiss her cheek quickly, "Good. Now I need you to touch up my hair."

She snorted, pushing him off her with a laugh, and he grabbed her hands with his right hand, his left hand going to tickle her waist over the covers. While the two of them continued to laugh, Dean and Roman continued to bicker over the top of them, none of them remembering that Kaitlyn and AJ were still in the room.

"I'm actually slightly jealous. This is a popular fantasy of mine."

The four bed occupants paused in their activities and all turned to look at Kaitlyn and AJ, who looked amused at their antics. Dean sent a smirk towards Kaitlyn, "I'm sure it's a popular fantasy for a lot of women."

Zoe grabbed the pillow from behind her head and whacked it against his face, "DEAN!"

"That is also a popular choice of phrase amongst women-"

"DEAN!" yelled Roman, grabbing another pillow and hitting him with it.

Seth darted off the bed and stumbled to his feet in front of the two women. He sent them a charming grin, offering his hand, "Hi, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Seth Rollins."

AJ shared a look with Kaitlyn amused, before shaking his hand, "AJ."

Kaitlyn shook his hand next, "Kaitlyn. Nice hair."

Seth grinned, "You too. I have to say you pull it off much better than I do."

AJ's eyes widened at the look the two were sharing and she shuffled away, leaping onto the bed with a warcry to help Zoe. She grabbed Zoe, pulling her to the side while Dean and Roman continued to try and smother one another, and she pointed at Seth and Kaitlyn. Zoe grinned, a small giggle escaping her at the exchange.

"Well, isn't that interesting?" murmured Zoe to AJ. AJ nodded, her own giggle escaping her as they watched Kaitlyn and Seth chat. The two didn't realise that Dean and Roman had stopped their fight and Dean shot a smirk at Roman, gesturing his head towards Seth testing his charms on the hybrid Diva.

"WOO! Get in there Seth!"

"DEAN!"

* * *

><p><span>7th January, 2013<span>

"Dean, is the reason you carry both my tray and your tray because whatever food you can't fit on your tray, you pile onto mine?"

Dean Ambrose had the decency to blush at the accusation and Zoe grinned at the red stain on his round cheeks. He shrugged, balancing the two trays in his hands expertly while Zoe chose their dinner to eat, "Just helping out a lady."

"And your appetite."

"I'm a growing boy."

"Growing sideways, yes."

He shot her a glare, before piling some more food on his plate, "Watch it, lady. Without me, you would eat all the poptarts."

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing."

He glanced her over, a smirk on his face and she slapped his arm, "What?!"

"You're a perv."

"Just imagining what would happen if you ate more poptarts."

"Did you just call me fat?"

Much to Dean's relief, Roman stepped in, having overheard the exchange and he grinned at the stunned look on Dean's face, "Run, Dean. Run now." Before Dean could make a getaway, Roman grabbed Zoe's tray to balance next to his own and let out a deep laugh as Dean darted for the table that Seth was occupying in the catering area. He grinned down at the small woman next to him, and Zoe rolled her eyes, curling her arm around Roman's bicep.

"Thanks, big guy."

"Anytime, Zo'." He handed her her tray once they finished and he started to walk over to their table, but realised she wasn't following him. Roman frowned, turning to look at Zoe, and he realised what she was looking at. With a small smile, he patted her hip gently, "Go over there. I think it's about time you said something to them."

Zoe nodded, her hand reaching to squeeze Roman's hand momentarily, "Wish me luck." She didn't know what possessed her to do what she did, but Zoe was certain her feet had developed a mind of their own and they guided her towards the table that sat many Superstars and Divas that were her former friends. As she approached the table, the conversation amongst her old friends died down and silence descended upon the table, all eyes on her. If it weren't for the encouraging smiles from the Bella twins, AJ, Kaitlyn and her cousin, she would've high tailed it back to the Shield's table and called it a day. But right now, she stood there on shaky legs, her tray held tightly in her hands, "Uh.. hi guys."

Brie smiled at her gently, "Do you want to sit, Zoe?"

The darked haired Boston native shook her head, "No, I think it's probably best I don't. But I just wanted to say something." She paused, taking a deep breath, "I know that when everything went down, it looked bad and I know I didn't have the answers that you wanted to hear. I swear on my life I had no idea anything was going to happen-"

"We know-"

AJ smacked Dolph's arm, "Ziggy, hear her out!"

Zoe continued, "I know that it looked bad when I took off. I know that made me look guilty as fuck. But I found out what happened and you have my word that it was not only beyond my control, but also Stephanie and Paul's. It came from higher up and while they knew, Stephanie didn't want to tell me what was going down because she knew I would risk my career to stop everything that happened. She knew that I would put you guys first and that's why we were all left in the dark. I can't say I'm innocent either. I shouldn't have accused you all of using me. I guess that little seed of doubt was placed a long time ago and with emotions running high that night, I just thought the worst. I'm sorry I didn't trust you all enough to know that we all said hurtful things that night that we probably didn't mean, myself included." Her eyes looked over all the wrestlers that were sitting there, not knowing what they were thinking, "It's been a long time and maybe it's been too long. But you were my family first and foremost and despite everything, I do miss you all. It's not the same without you guys. I'll let you get back to dinner."

She turned on her heel and headed straight for the table that the Shield were occupying. She slid into the seat next to Dean, and he smiled reassuringly at her. Zoe sighed at the empty table that they sat on. She had a bad feeling she was the reason these boys weren't being welcomed into the fold as easily as she thought. Her thoughts were broken by the sound of the chair next to her scraping against the concrete floor and a body dropped into it, a loud voice echoing in her ear, "So, Shield guy.. dudes.. agents.. wait what do we call you?"

Zoe's heart thundered in her chest as she watched Mike Mizanin take the seat next to her, and then slowly, Daniel Bryan, Brie, Nikki, John, Dolph, AJ and Kaitlyn took the remaining seats, all of them engaging in conversation with the Shield members. She caught her cousin's eyes and he grinned at her, nodding his head and Zoe couldn't help but let her own grin take over her face as Dolph and Seth started arguing about a video game. She could tell it was going to be baby steps with them, but she was glad it was a start. As she got caught up in the conversation with Nikki and Brie across from her, she felt a hand on her knee, giving it a quick squeeze. Turning her head, Zoe raised an eyebrow at Dean Ambrose, "What?"

"You better not replace us."

She laughed at the mock scowl Dean sent her, and she leaned over, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "Never." She squeezed his shoulder, her arm wrapped against his side, "But thank you for kicking me into gear."

"Just wanted to see you happy, that's all."

Zoe smiled, before a movement behind her caught her eye. The young woman looked over her shoulder and frowned when she spotted nothing there. But what she didn't see was CM Punk slipping back out of the catering area, a ghost of a smile on his face. He had heard the entire apology. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't as bad as he thought she was.

* * *

><p><span>27th January, 2013<span>

It didn't take a genius to work out that with the Rock booked to win against CM Punk at the Royal Rumble, John Cena would be winning the Royal Rumble match to face him at Wrestlemania. As the numbers whittled down in the ring during the annual 30 man battle royal, Zoe stood with the three members of the Shield, CM Punk and the Rock as they went over their match outline with Stephanie and Paul.

"Dean, Seth and Roman. You need to be in position to attack the Rock when the lights are out. You'll be putting him through the announce table," instructed Stephanie, "And then my father will come out and announce that he has a feeling the Shield did it and as per stipulations, Punk will be stripped of his title. Do we all understand?"

While the others nodded, The Rock interrupted, "They're going to be powerbombing me through the table in the dark?"

Roman sent a smirk towards his cousin, "I think we've powerbombed you enough times to do it with or without light, Dwayne."

The Rock glared at his cousin and Zoe smothered a giggle at the look on his face. Rolling his eyes, the Hollywood star turned to the couple, "Fine, let's get this started." He paused, a smirk curling his own lips, "I can't wait for the ending."

As he headed towards the gorilla area, Zoe frowned at his choice of words, especially the accompanying smirk. She shook her head, trying to not think anything bad out of it. She looked up and caught the eyes of CM Punk. He nodded at her, before turning to the Shield, sending them a nod as well, "Good luck boys." Zoe was a bit stunned at the exchange, but it had been happening for a while now. She didn't know what it was, but Punk wasn't as hostile to her as he was before. While he did not really acknowledge her presence, he didn't go out of his way anymore to public berate her or insult her. She had a sneaky suspicion that he was who she thought she saw a few weeks ago at catering, but she wasn't 100% sure. As she waved bye to the Shield, she stood in front of the monitors with Stephanie, bracing herself for the main event. And she prayed that everything went well.

But knowing the WWE, it didn't.

* * *

><p>"CM Punk, it seems to me that your celebrations are over. I told you that if the Shield got involved in your match up, we would strip you of the Championship!"<p>

The crowd gathered to watch the Royal Rumble erupted into cheers as Vince McMahon addressed CM Punk from below the Titantron. The main event had just ended after CM Punk pinned the Rock due to a supposed attack by the Shield. And judging by the screaming by Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, it seemed that it most definitely was the Shield.

While CM Punk clutched his Championship to his chest, his voice screaming that it wasn't the Shield, Vince continued as per the booking sheet, "Yes, yes I know. Technically, we couldn't see that it was the Shield involved. So that means we are all stupid.. It wasn't the Shield?" Vince took a breath, "CM Punk, it is my duty as Chairman of the Board to officially-"

"No, no, no no no no no no no no no!"

From backstage, the entire roster gathered to watch the main event, along with Stephanie, Paul and Zoe, were all stunned into silence at the voice interrupting Vince McMahon. Zoe turned to look wide eyed at her boss, "Steph.. Is that who I think it is on the microphone?"

Stephanie looked pale, "Who gave him a microphone?"

Paul reached up a hand to loosen his tie, sweat already appearing on his brow, "Dad's not wearing a mic, Steph. We can't stop this."

Outside beside the ring, The Rock continued to speak on the microphone, "We ain't ending this night like that. You don't take it from him. I am." As the camera panned back and forth between Vince and Punk, it became painfully obvious to everyone that Dwayne Johnson had sabotaged the match. He struggled to stand, his body leaning against the barrier, "Restart the match now!"

CM Punk could not believe what was happening to him. He glared up at Vince and his face paled at the look of resignation on Vince's face. The fans were cheering for the restart and Punk's heart dropped as Vince screamed to restart the match. This moment quite literally defined what was best for business and CM Punk braced himself for the Rock onslaught. He knew he wasn't booked to win. So he took what the Rock dished out to him and as the ref counted to three, the entire arena erupted into cheers for the newly crowned Champion.

Worst Royal Rumble ever.

* * *

><p>"DAD!" cried Stephanie McMahon, as she rushed towards her father when he stepped into the backstage area, "What did you do?!"<p>

Vince looked absolutely crestfallen at what had happened, "I don't know. You heard the fans. I couldn't not restart that match. They wanted the restart."

Stephanie shook her head, her hands clutching her dad's shoulders, "But that's not what was supposed to happen."

"You don't think I know that!" yelled Vince, taking a step back, "What did you want me to do Steph? I had to do it! I have made too many mistakes with these people! I couldn't not give them what they so obviously wanted!" He turned to see CM Punk rush through the backstage area, his head down, "Punk! Punk! PHIL! WAIT!"

CM Punk paused, aware that all eyes were on him. He turned to face Vince and his face was blank of any emotion. Zoe frowned. She had expected him to erupt but this was more unnerving. She had no idea what to expect now. "What?"

"I am so sorry-"

Punk held up a hand, silencing the CEO of the WWE, "Don't. You got your Champion, Vince. Congratulations. Maybe with him, you'll be able to reach your own brass rings." Before Vince could say another word, Punk turned on his heel and walked away, his shoulder hunched over in defeat. But just as he left, the new WWE Champion appeared and Zoe watched as a deep red colour enveloped Vince McMahon's face. Her face lit up with glee at the impending eruption and she stepped back to stand beside her cousin, everyone waiting to see what would happen.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT JOHNSON?"

The Rock grinned at the CEO, "Your new ratings hit and your new WWE Champion."

Vince stepped closer to him, a growl escaping him, "You took over my show."

"I made it better."

"No, you didn't," said Vince, shaking his head, "But you made me realise something. You are not worthy of that title-"

"Vince!"

"YOU WILL NOT INTERRUPT ME AGAIN!" roared Vince, stepping even closer to the Rock, his voice now dangerously low, "I brought you back because I thought you would be good for business. That you would be good for the boys in the locker room. But you have disappointed me. You are everything everyone wanred me about but I didn't believe them. Until now. Enjoy your reign while it lasts, Mr Johnson."

The Rock frowned, "I thought I was to have a long reign till Summerslam."

"You're losing at Wrestlemania. Just like I should've left it to be last year." Vince looked over his shoulder at Zoe and Zoe saw the regret in his eyes. Vince turned back to the Rock, "You were a mistake to bring back Rock. You've caused nothing but trouble here. And I can't wait till you're gone. Have a nice night, Mr Johnson."

* * *

><p>With the Royal Rumble PPV over, Zoe Winters knocked on the door of the men's locker room, her intentions to find the three members of the Shield so they could leave to go back to the hotel for a few drinks with the others. The night had ended in disaster and Zoe didn't think she was ever going to forget the look on Dwayne Johnson's face as his only ally in Vince McMahon suddenly turned his back on him. She still couldn't get over the balls of the Rock to even go ahead and change the ending of the match the way he did. She had crossed Vince McMahon before, so she knew what it was like to cop crap from him. But the Rock? He copped it the worst and Zoe enjoyed every minute of it. As Roman yelled for her to come in, Zoe entered the locker room, an exasperated sigh leaving her as she spotted Seth Rollins sprawled on the floor shirtless, listening to music on his phone.<p>

"Really? Seth, get up!" She kicked his side and Seth grinned cheekily at her, bouncing up to rummage through his bag for clothes. Zoe noticed that Dean and Roman were ready, "Want to go warm up the car while I wait for his royal highness?"

Dean smirked, "Alright, we'll see you in a few." He paused, jerking his chin to something behind Zoe, "Um, FYI, Punk alert."

Zoe looked over her shoulder and sighed, spotting her exboyfriend hunched over on a bench, his head in his hands. She looked back at Dean and nodded, "It's alright. Just go." As the two disappeared and Seth continued to search through his large bag, Zoe found herself walking towards the former WWE Champion. The locker room had emptied out quickly, leaving just the Shield and CM Punk as the last ones. Zoe stood before Punk, her hands fidgeting with the strap of her bag over her shoulder, "Hey."

The Chicago native looked up at Zoe, "Hey." He paused, rubbing a hand over his face, "How did my losing to Rocky look in HD?"

"Almost as painful as it seemed to be for you." She sighed, "Are you alright?"

Punk nodded, "I'll live."

"You know Vince had no choice but to go with what Dwayne had said. This wasn't planned."

"I'm slowly figuring out a lot of things happen around here that aren't planned."

Zoe nodded, shuffling on her feet, "A lot of things happen without anyone's control. It's just the way it works here. Things happen and no one can control it." She paused, a sigh leaving her, "And no one can really explain it sometimes."

CM Punk leaned over and grabbed his bag, moving it to sit in his lap, "I'm starting to get what happened now."

The dark haired woman knew he wasn't talking about tonight and she smiled sadly at him, "You know I would never mean to hurt you like that. Or any of the others."

His tattooed hand clutched his bag tightly, "But we still did ended up hurting each other anyway."

Silence descended over the two of them, neither knowing what to say. Too many hurtful things had already been said that a simple sorry didn't seem like enough. Zoe turned her head to see Seth Rollins standing there waiting for her and she waved at him to hold on a minute, "I'm sorry about what happened tonight, Punk."

As she turned to move away, she paused upon hearing his voice, "For what it's worth, I think I'm starting to believe you now."

Zoe smiled gently at him, "Me too." As she headed to the door with Seth, her smile widened slightly. Maybe, just maybe, things were starting to look up for them.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you all enjoyed that and let me know what you thought! Also, should I get Zoe with one of the Shield or move her back to Punk? I have various scenarios in mind but I want to see what people are thinking :)


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